The Iwa Shinobi
by Vangran
Summary: A female Naruto has just had the Kyuubi sealed into her when she is kidnapped by Iwa ninja and taken back with them. What will happen to her while being raised by the enemy? FemNaruSasu Yondaime lives
1. Prologue

The Iwa Shinobi

Female Naruto + Sasuke Romance AU where Minato and Kushina survive the Kyuubi attack on Konoha

Summary: a female Naruto has just had the Kyuubi sealed into her when she is kidnapped by Iwa ninja and taken back with them. What will happen to her while being raised by the enemy?

Akahana: Red rose

**Prologue**

The Kyuubi was attacking Konoha, and the leaf Shinobi arrayed against it were powerless to stop it. Until the Yondaime Hokage arrived that is. He was standing on top of Gamabunta, the toad boss summon, the chief toad. His wife had just given birth to a baby girl. She had beautiful violet eyes and a small tuft of red hair, just like her mother. They named her Akahana. However their time together was short-lived as the Nine-tailed Fox continued its assault on Konoha.

Madara was laughing maniacally at how smoothly his plan was progressing. But before the Nine-tails could get any further Minato Namikaze, Yondaime Hokage, appeared with his newborn daughter and sealed the demon fox inside of her, ending the threat against his village. But while performing the seal, he was weakened considerably, and fell unconscious, his new-born child crying in his arm.

A couple of Iwa Shinobi were trying to make their way thru the forest when they heard crying. The two ninja exchanged glances and headed in the direction of the noise. When they arrived at the source what they saw shocked them. There, lying on the ground, was Iwa's number one enemy, Minato Namikaze. And what was even more shocking was that in his arms was a baby girl.

The two Iwa nins had evil smile playing on both of their faces. What better way to get back at their greatest enemy than to steal his new child away from him. Stealthily they crept up on the exhausted Yellow Flash and pried the crying child from his arms. They swiftly retreated from the area. They placed a sleeping jutsu on the child to hide their presence from Konoha's Shinobi.

When Minato woke up he was lying in a hospital bed. He looked around in a daze, his eyes eventually rested upon the form of his wife in the bed next to him. He couldn't help but smile. But then he remembered the events of the previous night and looked around frantically. His heartbeat went erratic, which sent a message to then nurses who charged into the room to see what was wrong. He looked up at them with a pained look on his face.

"Where is Akahana?"

The nurses exchanged nervous glances. Minato saw this and repeated his question with authority. The head nurse gulped, "Um, lord Hokage, when you were brought in there wasn't anyone with you."She hurriedly rushed out of the room as he threw anything he could get his hands on at the wall. When he couldn't find anything else, he collapsed on the ground, crying his eyes out.

Kushina woke up to the sound of her husband crying. Then suddenly she remembered last night's events as well (Well, up to the part where she gave birth and Minato took her kid away from her) and looked around frantically like Minato did moments before.

"Minato? Where is my Akahana?" She asked in a worried voice.

He brought his head up with a pained look in his eyes, tears flowing down his face. "I am so sorry Kushina." 

Now she knew something was wrong. She narrowed her eyes at him. "Where is my daughter Minato?"

He couldn't hold her gaze. He looked down ashamed. "I don't know." He whimpered.

Kushina's eyes widened. Tears started to form in her eyes. Minato ran over to her and they held each

other crying their hearts out.

Back with the Iwa Shinobi, they were traveling fast as they made their return to their home village. The one holding the baby Akahana was doing his best to keep his long blond hair out of his eyes. Deidara was quite pleased with himself for thinking up such a brilliant plan, at first anyways. Now he was wishing that he had simply killed the brat and been done with it. Too bad he come too far and it would have meant that he had wasted all those hours with nothing to show for it. So he kept marching onward.

Eventually he crossed back into Iwa territory and picked up the pace, sprinting the final stretch as the baby needed to have a wet-nurse soon or it could die. He ran thru the streets with the little bundle in his arms which drew glances from the passersby.

He rushed thru the village until he was in front of the Tsuchikage's office. And then without a moment's hesitation threw the doors open and marched right in, startling the men talking to Onoki, the Sandaime Tsuchikage, and his sensei.

The most powerful ninja in Iwa rose to his feet in anger, "What the hell do you think you are doing Deidara? When I made you my apprentice I do not remember giving you permission to come and go as you please," he yelled, his eyes blazing. "You better have a good explanation for this." It was at that moment that he noticed a small bundle in said-blonde's arms. "Why is there a baby in your arms? Don't tell me you got someone pregnant."

Deidara waved his free hand in the air frantically, "No master Onoki, that is not the case. But what WILL interest you is who the child's father is." That seemed to get his attention, as he was suddenly walked over and peered inside the blanket to get a good look at the child, who looked up at him with her big blue eyes.

_Hm, red hair, violet eyes, a face shaped like a tomato… wait! That's not possible! _Onoki looked up from the baby girl and looked at Deidara, curiosity evident on his face, "Is this child who I think she is? And if she is, please tell me how you captured her. " 

"Onoki-sensei, I know you want answers right now but I have to get this kid to a wet-nurse right now or she will die. And then it won't matter who she is." 

The Sandaime Tsuchikage nodded in understanding. He snapped his fingers and a Tremor (Iwa equivalent of Anbu) wearing a dragon mask appeared in a swirl of flames. "Yes, Lord Tsuchikage?" the Tremor said kneeling on the floor.

Onoki loved it when people used his title, it made him feel more important, and powerful, "Dragon, I need you to find me a wet-nurse immediately. I don't care who she is as long as she is not a member of the Kamizuru clan. The ninja in the room notably shivered. The Kamizuru clan were known for having strange things in their bodies and as such when they got pregnant their milk was, oh how should I put it, lethal to anyone not of their clan. "Oh, and make sure she has blond hair."

"Hai, Tsuchikage-sama. It will be done." And with that he left as quickly as he had come.

Only to appear seconds later with a woman clearly from the hospital who had just had a stillborn. She tried to cover up her legs to no avail. The hospital gown she was wearing wasn't exactly suited for walking around. She would have bowed but that would have exposed her backside and that was not something a young woman did when in the presence of the opposite (and occasionally the same) gender.

"L-l-lord Tsuchikage, to what do I owe this honor?" she said as strongly as she could, seeing as how she was still for all intents and purposes naked and was still weak from the childbirth.

Deidara walked up to her and handed Akahana to her. She held the child awkwardly, unsure what to do with the baby girl. She looked up with a confused look on her face. Deidara looked at her pointedly and said, "We need you to breastfeed this child."

"Wh-wh-what?" She spluttered, "Are you serious?"

Onoki took this moment to take control of the situation, before Deidara mucked it up, "I need your services concerning this baby girl. Deidara got a girl pregnant some time ago and kept it secret from us, but now the girl is dead and we need you to take care of her for him." he said, coming up with a convincing story, and it would have been even more believable had the girl had blond hair and blue eyes, but alas, that was not the case.

Well, it would have been had Onoki not cast a genjutsu over the girl right before the woman arrived. Funny how no one noticed him doing it.

Deidara looked at his sensei with newfound respect in his visible eye. He hadn't thought about changing her appearance.

Onoki looked her dead in the eye (well as close as he could get what with him being the shortest person in the room), "Does this look like a joking face to you?"

She shook her head quickly, "N-no Tsuchikage-sama."

He smiled, sending a shiver down her spine, "Good, then I want you to begin immediately."

She gaped at him, "R-right n-now? But there are men here."

Onoki lifted an eyebrow, clearly amused, "Do you want the child to die?" she shook her head, "Then I suggest that you start now." 

Not wanting to have the men around her force her to, she opened her gown and brought the baby up to her exposed nipple, and said baby immediately latched onto it, sucking the milk up greedily. Deidara gave a sigh in relief, happy that his efforts weren't in vain. And in a (rare) moment of clarity, he looked at his sensei and asked, "What are we going to do now?"

Onoki opened his mouth but closed it quickly. He hadn't thought that far ahead yet. Obviously they would have to keep the child under surveillance, what with it being a Jinjuuriki and all; the seal is rather obvious, or it was, before he cast the genjutsu on the girl that now looked like a boy.

Onoki looked at the woman and asked, "What is your name, young lady?"

The woman looked up from the suckling baby and said, "Akira, my lord."

Onoki smiled, "Well Akira, from now on this little blossom will be known as… oh perfect! Naruto! Yes, that's it, Naruto. From now on this child's name will be Naruto."

Akira looked up at him blankly, "Blossom? But he's a boy isn't he?"

Onoki shook his head, "No, my dear, she is not. Deidara has many enemies, and as such him having a baby will attract attention, and with it being a girl will cause even more trouble. When this child leaves the house and is in the company of others she shall be under the genjutsu, but when she is alone with you or one of us present here she shall be as she was born. When sufficient time has passed and we deem that she is strong enough to protect herself we shall allow the jutsu to be dropped, but until then it will be used is that clear?" a quick nod is his answer, "Good, now do you have a husband?"

"Yes my lord Tsuchikage, his name is Minoru."

"Minoru, eh? He is an academy teacher is he not?" She nodded, "Well, at least I know she will have protection when we are not around. You will take care of this child as if she were your own. Because of your hair color and his eyes being blue it won't be hard for him to believe that it is his child. After all, he is not in the village at the moment so he could not possibly know about the death of your real baby. And that is how it will stay, understand?" She nodded furiously, "Good, and also while she is at home with your husband I want that henge up, only when she is alone with you is she allowed to have it dropped, understood?" She kept nodding. He smiled, well alright then, I will have my Tremor escort you back to your hospital room now, until we meet again, Akira-san."

And with that Dragon reached over, grabbed her shoulder gently so as to not disturb the still suckling child, and poofed back to the hospital, where he laid her gently onto the, now much more comfortable bed, saluted, and left. Well, left as in went to his guard post outside her room, where he proceeded to sulk at having being degraded to a simple bodyguard to a civilian no less.

Back inside the room Akira was holding a now sleeping Naruto (coughAkahanacough) who had just had her fill of milk for the day. Akira couldn't help but marvel at how beautiful the sleeping girl was. She had dispelled the henge like she had been taught. Apparently civilians have a minor capacity for transformation ninjutsu, not that that was widely known of course. The little tuft of red hair caught her attention as soon as the henge was dropped. Or it would have if red hair wasn't so common in Iwa and the now defunct Whirlpool, where it was only common in Uzumaki females. Still she was a very beautiful baby girl, and she was happy to take care of her.

_The Iwa Shinobi_

Back in Konoha, Minato and Kushina stood at the front at the newly constructed memorial for those that gave their lives to defend their village from the Kyuubi and wept openly. Later that day they had a separate funeral for their baby girl whose body was never recovered so all they could do was erect a headstone and cry over it. Little did they know she was not only alive, but also being cared for by their greatest enemy: Iwagakure no Sato, the village hidden in the stone.


	2. Chapter 1

A/N: Because some of you feel that I made an error with Sasuke being older, I have changed it so he is. Not that it should matter anyway since this is _fan_fiction!

A/N2: I noticed some errors when I went over it again to refresh my memory, and so I give ya this. The changes aren't that noticeable but they make me feel better. And that's what's important, right? :)

**Sorry for taking so long guys, School has been a pain. **

**Just so you guys know, I am not one for writing out the characters childhood, so I will make skips when I feel they are necessary to advance the story. The romance aspect is introduced in here, so please be patient for when it actually blooms. Oh yeah, and the Uchiha's don't rebel in this story and Fugaku is a good guy. A search will start for Akahana, now known as Naruto, but it will not succeed until after it is called off, ironic huh? **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, otherwise I would be in jail for making a crappy anime.**

**The Iwa Shinobi Chapter 1**

In Onoki's office, Deidara was feeling quite good about himself and that his taking the girl would pay off in the end, at least he hoped she would. But something that had happened that made him confused.

"Onoki-sensei?"

"Yes, Deidara?"

"Where did 'Naruto' come from?"

"Oh that's easy, I read this little book titled Tales of a Gusty Ninja and remembered that the hero's name was Naruto. No one would suspect it because no one ever really read it save myself and maybe a small handful of others. Wonderful tale if I do say so myself."

"Um, Onoki-Sensei? Who was the author?"

"Um, I think it was Jiraiya of the Sannin, why?"

"Well, he is the sensei of Minato Namikaze, don't you think he would get suspicious?"

"Nah, he would probably be flattered that there was a kid named after one of his not-so-scandalous characters."

"Well if you say so."

"I do say so, now leave me, I have a lot of paperwork to do and it's all your fault. And as punishment you will be the girl's new bodyguard. You will watch over her and make sure nothing bad happens. Can't have our investment in Konoha's ultimate demise dying now can we?"

"No sir."

"Good, you are dismissed."

Deidara bowed and shunshined out of the office with a rather loud bang. Onoki shook his head, _He always did like his explosions. _

^_^The Iwa Shinobi^_^

Akira had just been released from the hospital and her husband Minoru was there waiting for her when she got out with her new baby boy(coughgirlcough). Minoru had been ecstatic at meeting his new baby. But he did have one question.

"Honey? Weren't you having a girl?"

Akira froze. During all the confusion she had forgotten to mention that key fact. She looked at him nervously. "Well, you see, they made a mistake, yeah that's it! They made a mistake in which gender he would be. It is very easy to do that you know."

Minoru seemed to buy it because he turned around and lead her towards their home, not wanting to risk her health by sunshining. (A/N why didn't the Tremor do that?)

When they arrived at home Minoru led her to their bed and helped her settle in. All the while Akira was cooing to her new baby. While she was sad that Naruto was not her own child, she was glad that she was able to help this one. She only wished she could tell her husband the truth. This would be a major divider between them. But looking down at the baby snuggled up in her arms; she can't help but feel it's worth it.

^_^The Iwa Shinobi^_^

Back in Konoha Minato and Kushina wept for their lost daughter while the villagers celebrated the death of the demon, despite the fact that they told them that it was sealed into their baby girl. Not that anyone listened, but that didn't they had to be so rude about it, a lot of other people died that night as well. They could only hope that wherever their daughter was she was happy and safe (they wouldn't believe she was dead until they saw her body).

They had gone into a period of mourning for their daughter, and because of that the village descended into madness. The villagers did everything they could to get the lord Hokage to leave his house and resume his duties, but nothing they did seemed to work, in fact, it did the opposite. Even when they tried he would answer the door, now all they get is silence. The one time anyone did see him was when he was setting up a seal to keep out unwanted guests (i.e. everyone).

The only people who didn't try to get him to come back were those who had lost their own children at young ages as well, and could empathize with the distressed couple. The only problem was, no one knew that she was still alive for a fact, (except for Danzo who somehow always knew these things and was furious that he had lost a powerful weapon to Iwa). Danzo of course would never admit that he knew where their daughter was, and since no one knew that he knew, no one would ever ask, unless he did something stupid and let it slip over a cup of Sake, which would be completely out of character for him.

Meanwhile in the Uchiha district, Mikoto Uchiha was lying down on a king-sized bed with a baby latched onto her left breast. How Fugaku survived the mood swings to this day he would never know but was thankful that there was someone looking out for him. He was of course saddened when he heard that the daughter of the Yondaime Hokage was missing. He had planned on having her marry his son, Sasuke, after she was born. The papers had already been signed by both himself, Mikoto, Minato and even Kushina, hoping to improve the public opinion of the Uchiha clan seeing as how it had waned in recent years after a fiasco involving a nobleman who killed the Tagerasu clan heir, who happened to be the last child of their clan, and thus the clan ended on that fateful night, all thanks to the incompetence of the Police who were supposed to be guarding him after his previous attack attempt on the clan but had gone out to get a drink of sake that their charge managed to drug and thus taken them out of the equation.

But that didn't look like it was going to happen now, and despite the fact that the Yondaime held fast to the belief that she was still alive, he wasn't holding his breath. But if she was in fact still alive, the Uchiha clan would return to the good graces of the village. And if that meant looking for a dead girl in the hopes that she is still alive well, than that's what they'd do. What better way to return to favor than to return the lost child of the Yondaime Hokage himself? Too bad for him he didn't have the first idea for where to start looking. But then Fugaku had a brilliant idea, "I know, I will ask Hokage-sama where he defeated the demon and go from there." Now he just had to find a way past that damn seal barrier of Minato's and he was home-free.

^_^The Iwa Shinobi^_^

"Damn it Minato! Open up the blasted door!" Fugaku yelled angrily at the shut door in front of him. It had taken him three whole hours to get past the seal, and that was only by temporarily disabling it. If he tried to come back, he would get thrown backwards as it would turn back on as soon as he left.

"If this is about that damn village, it can go to hell for all I care. It doesn't even care that my baby girl is missing." A muffled voice yelled back equally angrily.

"But that is why I am here! I wanted to ask you where you fought the demon so I could start the search."

A series of loud crashed could be heard from inside and Fugaku took a step backwards as the door was slammed open revealing a disheveled Hokage who looked like he hadn't slept in days, and in all likelihood hadn't. His hair was all mussed up and his eyes looked haggard; oddly enough the same symptoms of sex.

"Did you say what I think you said?" he asked cautiously.

Fugaku smirked, "Yes, Hokage-sama. I wish to begin a search for your daughter. But in order for that to happen I need to know where your final battle with the Nine-tailed Fox took place. Could you show me where it is?"

Minato smiled; something he hadn't done in days. He turned his head back and yelled, "Kushina! I am going with Fugaku to help start the search for Akahana. Do you want to come?"

Another series of crashes was heard coming from the second floor and a flurry of curses flew into the two men's ears and they couldn't help but gulp. Several seconds later Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze appeared beside her husband with a katana strapped to her back; two kunai holsters; the owl summoning scroll and wearing a set of body armor worth more than half the village.

Minato sweatdropped, "Honey, don't you think that is a little excessive?"

Kushina growled at him, which caught both men off guard. "When it comes to my daughter, nothing is too excessive."

Fugaku sighed internally, _Maybe asking him was a bad idea after all. _But as soon as the thought left his head Minato got the same look in his eyes as Kushina and disappeared in a flash of yellow light. Reappearing a moment later with his vest, cloak, 8 tri-pronged kunai, and his own katana.

Minato and Kushina looked at Fugaku and said, "Ready when you are."

He sighed again, this time audibly, "We can go now. My men are already at the gate."

Minato and Kushina looked at each other and nodded, "Let's go."

^_^The Iwa Shinobi^_^

Back in Iwa, Akira was breastfeeding Naruto with Minoru looking down at her lovingly. "I can't believe we made such a beautiful baby boy," his face scrunched up, "Although why you chose the name Naruto is beyond me. I thought we had agreed on Arashi." (A/N just thought I'd throw that in there.)

"Well, if you wanted to name him you should have turned down that mission you went on now shouldn't you?" she said coldly.

Minoru sighed, "You're never going to let me live that down are you?"

She shook her head, frowning, "No, you promised you would be there for the birth of **OUR **child but nooooo, you just had to go on that bloody mission that you knew would end well after the birthing. You should just be happy that you even get to see her."

He ran his fingers threw his hair, sighing in defeat, "I knew I shouldn't have taken it, but I was low on money. How else was I going to pay the bills and take care of a baby at the same time with what we had?" He missed the slipup.

Akira hung her head sadly, "I know we are low, but couldn't you have passed on this one mission for me? I wanted you to be there when sh-he took his first breath, and now that Naruto has already been born, I think we should just focus on taking care of our little baby, instead of arguing. All this bickering is making he-him cry."

Despite all the near slips, Minoru never caught on to Naruto's true gender.

**Tell me what you think. Deidara will make an appearance in Naruto's life in the next chapter. Again I am sorry for the delay. **


	3. Chapter 2

The Iwa Shinobi Chapter 2

There will be a timeskip here

Vocab: Bakuyakugan: Explosive Eye

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to me! (Lightning speeds down from the cloudless sky and zaps me) Okay, okay I don't own Naruto

In Konoha

1 and a half months after the search for Akahana began, Mikoto Uchiha, wife of Fugaku Uchiha, clan head of the famed Uchiha clan, gave birth to a baby boy. They named him Sasuke Uchiha.

In Iwa

Akira was breastfeeding the 2 month old child when suddenly Deidara zoomed in threw the open window and came to a stop at the foot of her bed. Akira nearly fainted.

"What do you think you are doing? You nearly gave me a heart attack," she whispered angrily, "You're just lucky the baby didn't notice," fire was coming out of her eyes at that point.

Deidara rubbed the back of his head sheepishly(like a certain blond we know and love) and said, "This was the only time I was able to come when your husband wasn't home. It wouldn't look very good if a man he has never seen before popped up asking about the welfare of another's child now would it?"

Akira still didn't like that he was there but she understood his reasoning, understood but not accepted.

"That still doesn't excuse you barging in while I am nursing." She said, glaring this time.

Deidara rolled his eyes at this point. But then his face turned serious. "So, how is she doing?"

Akira's mood instantly brightened at the mention of her adopted daughter. "You daughter is doing very well, Deidara-sama. She is the joy of my life, I can't thank you enough for letting me raise her."

Deidara sweatdropped behind his head, _Bi-polar much? _He had almost forgotten that he was masquerading as the infant's father. Thank Kami he wasn't the real one or he would feel it was his duty to take care of her (and he _definitely_ doesn't want to do that).

He plastered a fake smile of gratitude on his face, "Thank you for looking after her for me, Akira-san. I will be checking in on you two once every month until she is a genin and then I will be assigned as her sensei. But until then. Please take good care of her," all of a sudden, he called out, "Bakuyakugan."

Akira was about to respond when suddenly Deidara's eyes lit up in flames, he looked toward the front of the house and saw Minoru's heat signature. He looked down at Naruto and smiled, although it freaked Akira out because sparks were flying from his eyes. "Well, you're husband is home. So I have to leave. See you in a month." And then, to keep up the charade, he leaned over and kissed Naruto's head, after deactivating his Kekke Genkei of course, you don't want a fire starting spontaneously. He left the house the way he came. And not long after the front door opened. Minoru walked into their bedroom and smiled at Akira and Naruto. He walked over to them and kissed Akira and then Naruto on the forehead.

"So how have my two favorite people been doing today?" he asked smiling.

Akira smiled up at him, "We have been just fine. Little Naru here has been feeding like there's no tomorrow. I think I might run out of milk before he gets his fill."

Minoru smirked, "Well perhaps we should give him a break from feeding for a little while. He could use some rest."

Akira nodded lazily, "I think I could too, this whole mother thing is taking a lot out of me."

Her husband nodded understanding. He grabbed Naruto out of Akira's arms and walked him over to the crib they set up in an adjacent room. Setting him down gently he pulled the blanket over the tired baby and couldn't help but smile at how cute 'his' child was.

Walking back into his room he found Akira already asleep. He still had things to do before he went to bed so he left the room and quietly closed the door behind him.

:Timeskip:

10 years later…

A young blond-haired boy was running away from a group of Tremor's who were trying to get her after she pranked the Tsuchikage's statues. (kind-of like Mount Hokage-more except instead of heads carved into mountains they make bigger-than-they-actually-were statues of their leaders. In other words, they were all short)

:Flashback:

Naruto was walking thru the village when she saw the statues of the Tsuchikage's in the middle of the village. She had just had another argument with her father about her poor grades in school and he wasn't too happy with her. (A/N: remember: she knows that she is a girl, but her dad doesn't, so he thinks she is a boy) It's not like she didn't study, it's just that she didn't understand what she did. And then after that he made a comment about her not really being his child because his son wouldn't be this bad in school. At which point she yelled, "Well maybe I don't want to be your son!" He then turned extremely angry and ordered her out of the house for the rest of the day. And so there she was, with nothing to do feeling very bitter. So she decided to take out her anger on the nearest object she could find, and what better thing than the statue's of their beloved leader? She immediately went to the nearest store and bought a huge amount of paint and ran toward the statues.

Before anyone had a chance to blink the tree statues were covered in goofy drawings that made the men the depicted look crazy. For some strange reason Naruto thought that there should be four of them, but shook her head as it didn't make any sense and continued on her way. 5 minutes later a group Tremor's appeared in front of her and said, "Naruto Sakamoto you are to come with us to Tsuchikage-sama's office immediately for discipline."

At which point she yelled, "Only if you catch me!" And off she went.

:Flashback End:

Naruto kept running as fast and glanced over her shoulder to see that the Tremor had stopped, she thought that they had given up when she ran into someone. She bounced off of him and fell to the ground.

"Ow," she said rubbing her bottom. She looked up to see who she had run into and paled. "H-h-hi Deidara-san. " He glared at her.

"You are big trouble young man and I am going to make sure that punishment is served." He knew that she was a girl, but while out in public he had to keep up appearances. She gulped. He grinned, "You are going to clean the Tsuchikage statues until they are spotless and I am going to watch you the entire time to make sure you do."

She gulped again. Deidara pulled Naruto to her feet and led her back toward the statues where the cleaning supplies were already waiting for her. Grumbling she set about her task.

Deidara noticed that she wasn't overly enthusiastic about her punishment and that at the rate she was going it wouldn't be done until well after nighttime. _Guess she needs a little incentive._ "Hey Naruto, when you finish this I'll take you out for ramen!" He said loudly. That got her attention. Despite being in a home not truly her own, she still had an appetite for ramen. It's like it's genetic or something. After all, both the Fourth Hokage and his wife are known for having a thing, okay maybe not a 'thing,' more like an addiction.

Naruto her arms in the air, "Now that's what I'm talking about!" And with that she hurriedly set about cleaning the three statues. Deidara couldn't believe his eyes, it was like she was everywhere at once. What he didn't know, was that she actually was everywhere. Granted they were shadow clones but no one had seen her do them before so she got away with it. The truth of the matter was that Naruto was really quite smart, she just didn't like to show off, kind-of like a certain Nara we all know and love.

She had tried to do the clone jutsu but found that she had too much chakra to do it without killing the clone. So she tried experimenting. The school required that the student be able to create 5 clones successfully, regardless of the type. There were some ninja families that taught their children the mud or rock clone. The problem with her was that she was given access to those jutsus so she was forced to improvise. So she tried experimenting with different types of clones until eventually she gave up after finding that none of them worked, for her anyway. But then one day she was looking through a history book and saw a section on the Yellow Flash, the Yondaime Hokage. In the section she saw that he used a different type of clone, the shadow clone. It was solid, and apparently required a lot of chakra because some of the Iwa shinobi tried to copy it but failed. Learning the handsign was easy seeing as how there was only one, but the chakra requirement was enormous, bordering on Kage-level. So she tried that one, little did she know it would become her signature technique later on. After hours of practice she was finally able to perform the jutsu successfully, calling forth hundreds of clones in the clearing she was training in. Of course as soon as she created them she dispelled them once she heard a lot of people coming. For whatever reason, she was able to hear, see and smell a lot better than most kids her age, heck most people in the village, ninja included. After she released the clones she got a massive headache. She swore she would never do that many again unless she absolutely had to.

After Naruto finished cleaning(the clones long since gone) she jumped down onto the ground and ran up to Deidara, bouncing up and down. "Ramen?"

Deidara chuckled, "I did promise you that didn't I? Okay, how about we go Ichiraku's eh?" (A/N: Pleas e bear with me, I promise it will make sense.)

Naruto jumped into the air, "Yay!" she cried happily.

She ran out in front of him as she sped toward the ramen stand. Deidara couldn't help but laugh at her enthusiasm for the food.

Naruto beat Deidara by a landslide, in fact, he was so far behind she couldn't even see him. Shrugging her shoulders, she jumped up onto the stool in front of the stand and sat down. "Hey old man, I'd like a Miso ramen please."

A man came out of the back and shook his head at her, "You know, one of these days you're going to get yourself killed for not respecting your elders, Naruto-kun." He burst out laughing, and Naruto joined in. The owner of the stand and said hyperactive ninja, or should I say student, were quite close, in fact, they had more of a father, son type of relationship than Naruto and Minoru.

"Whatever old man, I just want to taste the greatest food ever made in the world." She said enthusiastically.

Hiro Ichiraku shook his head again, still laughing, albeit quietly, "I don't make the best food in the world Naruto-kun." This drew a gasp from the number one unpredictable ninja-in-training. Hiro held his hand to stop the stream of protests flying out of the young 'boy's' mouth. "If you let me finish I would have said I don't make the best food in the world, but my brother does. He lives in Konoha , the village hidden in the leaves. If you ever get the chance to go there tell him that his little brother would like his book back. Now as for your order, one bowl of Miso coming up."

He placed the steaming bowl of noodles that he had begun to prepare the moment he saw Naruto running towards his shop at full speed.

"Itadakimasu, " she cried happily and dug straight into her bowl. Moments later Deidara arrived and sat down at the counter and asked for a beef ramen. He looked over at Naruto and shook his head; she was almost finished with her first bowl. . . Wait, _first_ bowl? She should already be on her fifth by now.

"Hey Naruto," she looked up from her just-finished bowl, "Do you have something on your mind? You seemed distracted earlier."

She looked at her hands on the counter and sighed, "Is it that obvious?" He simply gave her a look that said, my-bat-could-see-it. And they go by sonar. (A/N: Yes, Deidara has a pet bat, and no, it is not a summons.)

She sighed again, "Okay, I guess you got me, My tou-san and I got into a fight earlier today about my grades. He said he couldn't believe that I was his child having such poor grades and then I told him maybe I didn't want to be. At that point he got extremely angry and kicked me out of the house. And well, you know what happened from there."

Deidara took all this in and sighed, "So that is why you did that to the statues?" she nodded, "Okay, now I can understand where you are coming from. But that doesn't excuse the fact that you shouldn't have done it." She lowered her head, "However Minoru shouldn't have said that either."

She looked back up at him with tears flowing somewhat freely, "Thank you," She whispered quietly.

Deidara looked at her smiling. He looked over at Hiro who was watching the whole thing with a solemn look on his face and asked, "Hey, Hiro, how about some more ramen, eh?"

* * *

PLEASE REVIEW! Tell me what you think, and any ideas you might have for this story.


	4. Chapter 3: Attack in the Land of Waves

The Iwa Shinobi Chapter 3: Attack in the Land of Waves

FINALLY! It took FOREVER to write this. This is my longest chapter yet! ^_^

Just for reference: Minato and Kushina had agreed to name their son Naruto in case Akahana was a boy, so when Naruto Namikaze arrived on the scene, Akahana had already been living under the alias for a couple years by that time.

_I have no memory of this place_ - Gandalf

^_^Konoha^_^

Sasuke Uchiha had grown up in a loving household: his father loved him and would be happy with whatever he did; his mother spoiled him whenever she got the chance; and his older brother, the great Itachi Uchiha, would train him whenever he got time off. Yeah he was living the life, at home anyway. Outside the Uchiha complexes walls the people of Konoha despised them with a passion. He always tried to get other people to see that they weren't the bad guys, but no matter what he said or did, they refused to believe him.

Whenever he went outside the villagers would give him hate-filled glares and say terrible things like, "They killed the Fourth's daughter" or "They are nothing but thieves." The reason behind the last one was because now that the Uchiha clan had fallen out of the good graces of the village, the people made a great deal of trouble over the fact that their eyes allow them to copy other people's jutsus, in effect, stealing the hard work of others without even bothering to share said knowledge with anyone else. In other words, thieving bastards.

Today was July 4th, twelve years after the Kyuubi attack. He has been a Genin for four and a half weeks now, and he is bored out of his mind. Sakura won't shut up about how great Naruto was, and Naruto wouldn't say two words beyond "go away" and "shut up." Stuck-up prick, just because he was the son of the Yondaime Hokage and a genius didn't mean he had to act like a spoiled prince. He only graduated two years early. Itachi became a Chuunin when he was eight and Kakashi-sensei when he was six. And they have done that damn capture the demon cat mission 5 times already. He was not happy with how things are going.

He had been placed on Team 7 and labeled the "Dead Last" because none of the teachers wanted him to pass the exam and constantly tried to sabotage him, but the day of the exam Iruka Umino had been the examiner and because of his equal treatment policy they were unable to mess up his chakra for the jutsu part of the exam.

Sakura wore a red dress and shorts underneath (basically what she wore at the beginning of the show), and had a medical kit attached to her hip. She had enrolled in the medical course that Tsunade of the Sennin ran at the academy (all in the hopes of impressing Naruto of course). Sasuke wore his blue shirt with the Uchiha fan on the back (like in the beginning as well). And Naruto wore a pair of black shinobi pants with a blue turtle-neck and a vest on top of it , combined with his spiky blond hair and ocean-blue eyes, he looked like a chibi Minato. They had just returned the cat for the sixth time this month when Sakura started shouting about how it was beneath them to continue to do the D-rank missions. Iruka immediately went into a lecture about the mission ranking system and why Genins got the D-rank and that they were too fresh out of the academy to get anything higher. He agreed with Sakura, but he wasn't about to say that out loud because then she would start fawning over him, _again_.

The Yondaime Hokage looked at the scene before him with a smile on his face. He looked at his son and smiled and then he looked up at his former student and asked, "So Kakashi, do you think they are ready for a C-rank mission?" He already knew the answer, but he had to ask.

Kakashi sighed, "Yes sensei. I believe that my team is ready for a C-rank mission."

Minato looked through the pile and grabbed out a scroll, "This is an escort mission to the land of Waves. You will be escorting a bridge builder back to his homeland with the possibility of bandits attacking. His name is Tazuna. He motioned for the Anbu at the door to let in the client. The man walked in holding a bottle of beer wearing a fishermen's hat and a bored look on his face. Minato looked at him and said, "Tazuna, these will be your bodyguards for your return trip."

Tazuna looked down at the Genins and said, "These little brats are supposed to protect me? Hah! It would probably be the other way around. I mean look at them, especially the girl, she doesn't look like she's worked a day in her life." Sakura's forehead got a tick mark.

Kakashi grabbed her while she screamed, "Let me at him! Let me at him! I'm gonna kill him!"

"Stop it Sakura, we aren't allowed to kill our clients." He said trying to reason with her.

Sakura stopped flailing her arms and lowered her head, "fine." Kakashi released her but as he did he could have sworn he heard her say under her breath, "But the moment he's not…"

Shaking his head he said, "Good to hear," Kakashi looked at his students, "Now I want the three of you packed and at the gate in thirty minutes, okay?" They nodded, "Good, now off with you." They ran out the door toward their respective homes leaving Tazuna, Iruka Kakashi and Minato behind. Tazuna said he would be waiting at the gate and left. Kakashi looked at Minato, "You know, sensei, Kushina will kill me if Naruto gets hurt."

Minato grinned, "Yeah, I know, that's why you're their teacher and not me." He said cheerfully.

Kakashi sweatdropped, "You really like to torture me don't you?"

"Yup."

^_^The Iwa Shinobi ^_^

Meanwhile in Iwa, Deidara was getting ready to leave on a mission with his new team, consisting of Naruto, Hiro Tagesi, and Jinsoku Sensui. They were given a mission by the Tsuchikage to visit the Land of Waves and approach Gato the millionaire business tycoon with a business transaction. Deidara was wearing a black cloak with all black beneath (A/N: kinda like when we meet him at the beginning of Shippuden, although without the red clouds). He preferred to not wear his jonin vest. His clay pouches at his side prepared for any attacks that might come their way. He looked at his team and smiled. He knew his team was special. And they were the most versatile of all the Genin teams in Iwa, heck, in all of the five Elemental Nations.

Naruto (still under the henge) was the recon, using her shadow clones to scout ahead and overwhelm the enemy with sheer numbers, also her patented Sexy Jutsu(which portrayed her as a sixteen year old with a voluptuous body that men would drool over and women envious. But the girl looked surprisingly similar to a certain redhead in Konoha) which could be used for distractions and possible knockouts if the target is a pervert. Hiro was the protector, using his Kekke Genkei to create walls of dust to surround their team if caught in an area-effecting jutsu and was also able to use the Dust Cone Technique as an offensive last resort, as it was extremely powerful and Onoki practically forbid him from using it unless he had no other options remaining. Plus, he seemed to have inherited that flight technique that his grandfather was known for. And then there was Jinsoku Sensui, he was the runt of the team. No one knew what he was capable of because he was always the last one to finish, and when he was in school he only did just enough to pass. But there was this underlying aura of power that just seemed to radiate off of him. Everyone knew that he was smart, but how smart or whatever else he can do remained a mystery. And on top of that Onoki-sensei had insisted that he be placed on the team.

Deidara chuckled, he really liked his team, and being the Sandaime's apprentice helped make sure he got who he wanted (all for the purpose of protecting Naruto of course). And on this mission, Roshi would be accompanying them.

(A/N: Roshi is wearing the outfit seen in shippuden, if you don't know what that looked like, LOOK IT UP!)The Four-tailed Jinchuuriki had grown fond of the little blond/redhead. He was, of course, aware of the henge that hid her true identity, not that anyone else knew that. He had detected it one day while he passed her by and his tenant started screeching that she was under a henge. So he followed her home-stealthily of course- and waited until she was asleep and then the henge came down, probably because she thought that no one was watching. And it was at that moment that the Monkey pointed something else out as well, that the girl was a Jinchuuriki as well, just like him and Han, the Five-tailed Dolphin-horse's Jinchuuriki, although he wasn't around very often. And even though Han hated humans, he, like Roshi couldn't help but feel pity for the child. They knew the stories about the events that took place twelve years ago at Konoha when the Kyuubi attacked and then that very same night the newborn child of the Yondaime Hokage went missing. And then suddenly Deidara turned up with a child little older than a handful of weeks and claimed it was his(they had been told this because they knew that Naruto was a Jinchuuriki and would not be fooled by the claim that it was Akira's child. Sometimes it was nice to have a demon sealed in your belly. But like the others that knew Naruto wasn't Akira's, Han did not know, until Roshi told his that is. And now they were both very protective of her, not that she knew that of course. Sometimes Roshi would just watch her to see how she spent her days; no one knowing whether or not she had already met her literal inner demon. During the trip he was going to try and find a way for her to contact the beast inside her.

Naruto was bouncing around like a bunny rabbit with not-so-controlled excitement. She was wearing a black (A/N: now who's favorite color is that?) suit with a blue shirt and tie, for when they would meet Gato, but was also carrying a storage scroll that held her battle attire, which consisted of a black long-sleeve shirt. She kept a pair of trench knives at her side in case of conflicts on the road. She also secretly packed a kimono for when she got away from her teammates. Her henged hair was short and straight. Her blue eyes looked like oceans ready to sweep you away. But there was a hint of violet in those blue eyes.

This would be her first time outside of the village, and she would be going all the way to the Land of Waves to boot! For some strange reason unknown to her, she really likes water (A/N: I wonder why? ^_^), and this would be the perfect opportunity for her to sleep by the sea, however corny that might sound.

Naruto looked up at Deidara and said impatiently, "Deidara-sensei when are we going to leave?"

Deidara laughed, "Well, Naruto, we have to wait for your last teammate to get here." Hiro, Deidara, Naruto and Roshi were already there.

"Jinsoku." Naruto sighed, "Why can't he ever be on time for anything?" Naruto for the most part was quite energetic, although she had been working on getting those tendencies under control. She was actually pretty intelligent when you got passed the youthfulness.

^_^The Iwa Shinobi^_^

Meanwhile in Konoha, a man and a boy, wearing the same green spandex suit and sporting identical bowl haircuts, perked up their ears as if receiving a frequency that only they can hear.

The adult looked at the teenager and said, "Lee, I feel as if there is another fellow in the ways of youth!"

The young man, now known as Lee, said, "I agree Gai-sensei, I can only hope we meet this youthful person."

Gai looked at his student and had tears come into his eyes. "Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

The two males ran at each other and hugged. All of a sudden, their unbreakable genjutsu took effect, a sunset appearing behind them and waves crashing into the rocks that appeared beneath their feet. It would have been cute, maybe even romantic, had it not had those two spandex-wearing fiends in the middle of it.

People passing by ran away, holding their eyes screaming, "My eyes! They burn!"

^_^The Iwa Shinobi^_^

Back in Iwa, everyone at the gate suddenly felt a shiver go down their spines. Naruto looked around, "What was _that_?"

Deidara shuddered, "I don't know, but I have a feeling that Konoha has perfected their Springtime of Youth genjutsu."

This time it was Hiro who responded. He was wearing a brown suit with the Tagesi clan symbol on his collar and jacket. He had a back-up set of clothes in case there is to be conflict or training on the road.

His red hair sticking out at odd angles.

"Well whatever it is I hope we never have to see it, I think I would die."

The horrors of the Youth Nightmare Jutsu were legendary. Anyone who has ever seen it has run away clawing at their eyes screaming, "Make it go away!" after multiple attempts to dispel the technique from hell.

And, at that exact moment while everyone was looking back into village where Jinsoku should have been coming from, they all heard a voice behind them say, "What are you guys looking at?"

Everyone jumped ten feet into the air. They all spun around upon landing and shouted, "Where the hell did you come from?"

Jinsoku was wearing a black dress shirt with the image of a cheetah on the collar. He also wore a pair of black dress pants to go with the shirt, his brown hair flowing in the breeze. Wait. Breeze? For the journey he had his katana strapped to his back, although he has never been seen using it. The boy shrugged, "I walked right past you guys. Apparently you guys aren't as observant as you think you are."

They looked at each other and all shared the same thought, _Are we really that blind?_

Of course they weren't, Deidara and Roshi were both experienced ninja and on top of that Roshi had his tenant which would have told (or rather screeched) that the kid had passed him. Narrowing their eyes, they decided to log that away for later.

Deidara looked at his team and said, "Well, now that we're all here we can leave. Naruto, you're with me. Roshi will go with me as well while Jinsoku will be with Hiro." He put his right hand into his pouch filled with clay and let it chew. In the meantime Hiro was preparing himself for the trip ahead, hovering above the ground using his grandfather's flight technique.

Moments later the clay was ready and Deidara quickly turned it into a bird, and threw it into the air where it expanded. (The same size as in Shippuden) Roshi, Naruto and Deidara all climbed on the clay bird and took to the air, while Hiro and Jinsoku held hands and took off as well. The trip was going to be a long one, but it wouldn't take them too long what with their aerial capabilities.

^_^Iwa Shinobi^_^

With Sasuke and co.

On the road to Waves, Sasuke noticed a puddle on the side of the road. Looking up at the sky he saw there wasn't a single cloud in sight, and he recalled that it hadn't rained in weeks. _Tch, idiots probably think we won't notice. _

He caught Kakashi's eye and he motioned toward the puddle. The older man inclined his head acknowledging. They continued walking past the 'puddle' seemingly ignoring it. Naruto probably saw it but was being a prick about it. And of course Sakura had absolutely no idea what was going on as she was still fawning over the son of the Yondaime Hokage.

Just as they were walking past it, the puddle reverted back to its true form, or forms in this case. They charged at Kakashi with a chain connecting them and proceeded to tear him to pieces.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura cried, thinking her teacher had kicked the bucket.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, it was obvious the man had used the substitution jutsu. Going through the handsigns for the Uchiha's signature jutsu, Sasuke brought his hand to his mouth and shouted, "Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!" The fireball expanded in the air and flew toward the first enemy nin. The man, having been rushing forward didn't have time to dodge and flew backwards, and he would have taken his partner with him had he not disconnected the chain tying them together. Sasuke took off after the downed attacker and continued his assault.

The remaining foe saw Naruto and Sakura guarding Tazuna and charged, thinking his brother wouldn't be far behind. Sakura looked at the opponent fearfully. Just as he was about to hit her out of the way, she lifted her left hand covered in chakra and pounded it into the man's chest, sending him flying all the while saying, "Get away from me you freak!"

The man flew backwards into a tree hitting his head. He fell onto the ground unconscious.

Back with Sasuke the mist nin was trying to find some way to beat the little brat that had the nerve to shoot a fireball at him. He absolutely hated kids. The only reason Haku was on his good side was because she was Zabuza's apprentice and she could kick his ass from Wave to Iwa and back without even breaking a sweat.

He ran forward swinging his gauntlet at Sasuke expecting to take him out in one blow but got a shock when he jumped over it and delivered a spinning kick to the side of his head, sending him spinning in the air. Righting himself midair he attempted to break past him to Tazuna and the others but was knocked unconscious by a chop to the back of the neck by Kakashi.

Sasuke grunted, _About time he showed up._

After they finished tying up the two nins, Kakashi turned toward Tazuna and gave him a one-eyed glare.

"So, Tazuna, when were you going to tell us that you had ninjas coming after you?"

Tazuna started to sweat, everyone's eyes were on him. "Our country is very poor. We didn't have the funds to pay for a higher ranked mission. Gato has been sucking our nation dry."

Kakashi's lone eye widened, "Gato, as in multi-billionaire shipping magnate Gato? That Gato?"

Tazuna nodded sadly, "Yes, him. He has been taking all our money and goods before we can even sell them without paying. We need this bridge to be completed or we will never be free."

Sasuke looked his teacher straight in the eye and said, "Sensei I believe that we should continue this mission."

"We should help them out Kakashi-sensei. These people need our help and we should give it to them. Right Naruto-kun?" Sakura said batting her eyelashes at her long-time 'crush,' hoping that by agreeing with Sasuke that he would find her brave.

"Hn," was all she got in response.

Kakashi sighed, "Okay, I guess we'll keep going." Tazuna sighed in relief; Sakura thrust her fist into the air and shouted "Shannaro!" Sasuke smirked. And Naruto just hn'd.

Continuing on their way they made it to a dock where they boarded a boat that took them across the sea to the island that is the Land of Waves.

After a few hours of boredom and/or throwing up from seasickness, they reached their destination, passing by the incomplete bridge on the way there.

Reaching land they all got out of the boat save the driver who promptly turned the vehicle around after wishing them god luck and speeding away.

^_^The Iwa shinobi^_^

Meanwhile with our heroine and her team, they had just passed over the Land of Hot Water and were now crossing the open waters to the land of Waves. Upon reaching land, they flew a couple miles inland and set down. After returning the clay bird to its original hand-held size, they continued onward to Gato's base of operations, naturally bypassing the village on the way there.

When they walked up to the front they were stopped by a couple mercenaries.

"Stop right there foreigners, what business do you have Gato?" they asked snootily.

Deidara, as the Jounin-sensei stepped forward as spokesperson. "We are here to meet with your employer in hopes of coming to an arrangement that could benefit both our village and him. He said to come as soon as we were able and here we are."

The mercs eyed them suspiciously, but after taking in the groups' present outfits they decided that only a fool or someone who liked to kill while wearing fancy clothes would be stupid enough to attack him in the heart of his own organization.

Nodding the two stepped back and opened the doors for them to go in. Walking inside they went up the stairs as for some strange reason the elevator was broken. After reaching the top they headed to the door where another pair of mercenaries eyed them before opening the doors and letting them in.

Once inside the office they spread out with the adults at the ends and Naruto in the middle. Then Gato addressed them from behind his desk while sitting on a phonebook to make him seem taller, which it didn't it just accentuated the shortness.

"So, this is the team from Iwa hmm? Well it's about time. Now normally we would just sign on the dotted line and the deal would be done but right now I am in a bit of a conundrum. A man is attempting to build something that would make me lose a lot of money and I need him taken care of. I already hired another team to stop them but it seems that they have already failed me. If you could do this for me I would throw in a bonus contract. What do you say?"

Deidara and Roshi exchanged looks. Neither wanted to get involved in another countries affairs but they were ordered to do whatever was necessary to get the deal finalized up to senseless murder.

Getting a silent nod from Roshi, he looked Gato in the eye and said, "We will take care of the bridge builder, but as soon as we are done we want that paper signed. Understand?" He said menacingly, his hands inching toward the pouches of clay at his side. To add to the effect, Jinsoku reached for the handle of his katana.

Getting the idea that it would be bad to double-cross them, Gato nodded his head furiously. "Crystal."

Nodding that they understood the terms, they left after being given a house to stay in outside the village. It was almost as if he didn't want them to go in there.

Walking to their temporary home they unsealed their things and put them in their chosen rooms; it was a very big house.

^_^ The Iwa Shinobi^_^

At the same time Sasuke and crew are walking down the road toward Tazuna's house when all of a sudden Sasuke noticed movement in the bushes on the side of the trail, throws a kunai into the bushes which elicited a shriek from Sakura. Walking over to the bush he pushed aside the shrubbery and saw a snow-white rabbit shaking like a leaf with his kunai resting between its legs.

Sakura upon seeing the rabbit glared at Sasuke shrieking, "You attacked an innocent animal Sasuke what is wrong with you?"

Kakashi looked at the rabbit in question and noticed the color of its fur. _That's odd, they only have that color during the winter or if they have been… kept… indoors. _ "Everybody get down!"

Kakashi grabbed Sakura while Naruto grabbed Tazuna and threw their respective charges onto the ground taking themselves down with them. Sasuke already leaning down where his kunai was trying to pull it out didn't need to move and instead made one last pull and yanked the weapon out of the tree.

All of a sudden a giant blade came shooting out of the woods, slicing through the air above their heads and slamming into a nearby tree, burying itself into the wood. Once the sword was in the tree, a figure dashed out of the forest and stood on the weapon.

After standing up again, they got a good look at their assailant. He was wearing a belt across his bare chest, his headband was tied around his head and the metal facing sideways. He had two wrist-warmers on his arms and also wore a pair of matching leg warmers. His grey camo pants adding to the image as well as the bandages covering the lower half of his face.

He looked down at the group before him and laughed. "So, this is the famous Copycat Ninja? I must say I was expecting better."

Kakashi looked up at the man lazily and said, "Zabuza Momochi, Demon of the Hidden Mist."

Zabuza laughed, "I am flattered that you have heard of me Kakashi Hatake," his face, from what they could see, grew serious, "But I must ask that you give the bridge builder to me. If you do I will let you walk away with your lives."

Kakashi narrowed his visible eye, "I am afraid I can't do that Zabuza."

Zabuza sighed, "Very well." His voice grew cold, "It's your funeral."

Grabbing the sword by the handle he shot off from the tree and landed on the water nearby. Running through the handsigns, he called out, "Hidden Mist Jutsu!"

Unseen by Zabuza because he was performing the jutsu, Kakashi had lifted the headband off his left eye, revealing a fully matured Sharingan.

A thick mist rolled in obscuring everyone's vision. Even Sasuke with his Sharingan couldn't see through it, although he could see blobs here and there. And one of said blobs was coming straight at him.

The killer intent that Zabuza was releasing had varying effects on the members of Team 7: for Sakura, she was simply paralyzed and couldn't do anything, having never faced a dangerous situation before in her life beyond capturing Tora (which didn't say much); for Naruto, who was used to assassination attempts by foreign ninja because of his father being the Hokage, was unaffected by it, and kept the stoic look on his face; and as for Sasuke, well, the last time he was in a dangerous situation was when he had activated his Sharingan. He had been attacked by some villagers while out and about who were screaming, "Murderers!" "The Hokage should have killed your kind for killing his baby!" "Demon-lord!" The last one came out as a result of the whole Sharingan-controlling-the-Kyuubi rumor that had gone around. Well, maybe rumor isn't the right word, more like gossip. The reason that people were punished for attacking the Uchiha's was not the reason many had heard. It was not because of the act itself, but for saying that their little girl was dead. The Yondaime and his wife were still believers that she was still alive, although that belief was starting to find itself harder to believe every year that passed by.

The Anbu had stepped in to stop them killing him, but they did not even bother trying to stop the beating. They also believed that the Uchiha's should have been punished for taking the Yondaime's baby girl from him. Suffice to say he activated his bloodline that day.

Back to the battle Zabuza was running forward through the mist pulling back his giant sword ready to cut Tazuna in half when a hand latched onto the blade, the man's hand inside the sword's hole, stopping him in his tracks.

The mist cleared when a sudden burst of KI from Kakashi came forth. Needless to say the person holding the blade shocked everyone.

It was Sasuke.

Somehow he had managed to slip forward without Zabuza noticing and raise his hand at just the right time to stop the Executioner's blade, which was just a couple feet away from cutting Tazuna in two. Needless to say Tazuna was sweating bullets.

Kakashi taking advantage of the situation stabbed Zabuza in the stomach, but what surprised the others was that he turned into water.

"A water clone!"

Suddenly another Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi and sliced him in half, only for him to collapse into a puddle of water as well. The missing nin's eyes widened in disbelief, _When did he use that jutsu? I could have sworn that he didn't have his Sharingan active._

Then a kunai was across his neck with Kakashi holding the handle saying, "It's over Zabuza."

Then he started to laugh, "Over? No, it has only begun." Suddenly spun around and kicked Kakashi straight out into the water. Coming to the surface, he realized something, _This water is incredibly dense. Could he be . . . shit! He's got me!"_

Zabuza appeared in front of Kakashi and went through some handsigns saying, "Water Prison Jutsu!"

Then sticking his hand forward a giant sphere of water encased Kakashi and that was the end of that, or se Zabuza thought.

Naruto, who had been standing by the whole time, decided that it was probably time to actually do something, and, despite his father's warnings, was going to have to use _that_ jutsu.

Grabbing a tri-pronged kunai, he threw it at Zabuza who caught it midair, obviously not knowing what it was, otherwise he would have dodged it. Then activating the seal, he powers up a Rasengan in his right hand and in a bright yellow flash appears next to Zabuza thrusting his Rasengan-filled hand toward the nuke-nin, forcing the man to release the jutsu and leap backwards. Kakashi, now free, took the initiative and immediately started a counter-attack. Zabuza used the Water Dragon Jutsu and he used the same. Then, activating his Sharingan, he used a Genjutsu on Zabuza causing him to slip on his next jutsu, which Kakashi kindly finished. "Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu!"

Water swirled around Kakashi, turning into a ring of water in front of him until he released it aiming it straight at Zabuza. He flew backwards slamming into a tree. Right before Kakashi could finish him off two senbon shot out of nowhere and slammed into Zabuza's neck.

Then the assailant made himself (or herself?) known to the group. He (or she) wore a hunter nin mask with a moss green, striped turtleneck sweater and a split skirt in matching colour that reached down to his knees. On the outside of that, he wore a green blue short kimono with white edges, and around his waist a green brown obi, in the same fabric as his sweater, with a fringed trail. He bowed to the group. "Thank you in your assistance in the extermination of the Missing Nin Zabuza Momochi. I shall tell my leader in my report that a group of Konoha Shinobi helped in the effort." Leaping down to the ground, He lifted Zabuza up onto his shoulder and shunshined away.

After that Kakashi collapsed from Chakra exhaustion and they had to carry him the rest of the way to Tazuna's house.

^_^The Iwa Shinobi^_^

Back With Naruto and company, they were meeting up with Gato and their fellow shinobi. Zabuza was lying on a bed temporarily paralyzed from the removal of the senbon. Gato, his bodyguards, and the Iwa team all walked in and were met with the image of one of the Seven Swordsmen lying on a bed unable to move. Quite laughable wouldn't you say?

And laugh was exactly what Gato did. "So this is the infamous 'Demon of the Bloody Mist'? Ha! These ninja from Iwa could probably do better than you!"

Zabuza glared at Gato, "Well it would have gone easier if you had told us that he had hired ninjas to guard him!"

At that remark the all Iwa shinobi looked at Gato who was beginning to sweat a little.

"Do you have something to tell us Gato?" Deidara asked, eyes narrowed.

Gato managed to keep a straight face, his glasses were really coming in handy, "The bridge builder is obviously determined to ruin me, so apparently he hired some bodyguards, although I am sure that they didn't give the correct amount of money and after facing Zabuza will turn around and go home to their village."

Naruto, tired of being quiet, said, "Well, if they beat you then there must be a strong ninja on the team, care to say who?"

Roshi nodded in approval. Naruto had come a long way from being a hyperactive brat with no sense of decorum.

Zabuza turned his attention to the blond haired boy that had spoken up, "Yeah there was a strong ninja. Kakashi of the Sharingan Eye." Deidara and Roshi exchanged glances, and, though missed by all but Zabuza, Jinsoku gave a small smirk. Raising a thin eyebrow he continued, "And there was also the child of the Yondaime Hokage."

Deidara stiffened at that last part, and unconsciously cast a glance at Naruto, drawing the attention of Roshi, Haku, Zabuza, and Hiro. Gato would have noticed had he been paying attention, but he was too busy wetting his pants to care about what was going on around him. Jinsoku didn't even appear confused by the look Deidara gave Naruto. And as for Naruto herself, well, let's just say that she had something else on her mind.

And that something was the giant sword that was propped up against the wall to the side. She was looking at it with stars in her eyes. Subconsciously she slowly started walking toward it. Zabuza, seeing the blond walk toward his prized possession, barked, "Hey, no touchy." Real smooth Zabuza, real smooth.

Naruto, hearing this whined, "But whyyyyy? It looks so awesome!"

Zabuza nodded his agreement, "That it is, however it is still not yours, and will remain not yours as long as I hold breath so back up, gaki." He finished childishly.

Haku rolled her eyes, boys and their toys. Yes her. Haku had been masquerading as a boy for many years now in fear of a man happening upon her and trying to rape her. The last time it happened she was saved by Zabuza and in return she offered her undying loyalty to the man. And, being a girl pretending to be a boy, she was able to locate others doing the same thing, and from what she could tell Naruto was just such a person.

Gato, done peeing his pants, grunted and said, "Well, I expect results Zabuza, I am paying a hefty fee for your services and I want this man killed. These ninja from Iwa will assist you in this, since you can't seem to do it alone, and as such the payment will be split."

Zabuza's eyes narrowed angrily, but he knew he couldn't do anything about it, but hey, even half of what he was originally promised was enough for his goals. Not that Gato needed to know that, the extra money was really only for extra padding for after he took down the Yondaime Mizukage.

With the meeting over, Gato left with his guards and went back to his estate.

* * *

Please Review!

Next time in The Iwa Shinobi: Sasuke meets Akahana and a secret about a certain member of team Deidara is discovered, leading to many questions.


	5. Chapter 4: Destinies Plan

The Iwa Shinobi chapter 4: Destinies Plan

Disclaimer: I am not rich; therefore I do not own Naruto. Besides, Naruto is male isn't he?

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Land of Waves

After Gato left, the room was enveloped in silence. Haku, who had her suspicions about Naruto, decided to keep them to herself until she could talk to the blond (who wasn't really a blond) in private.

Zabuza was the first to speak, "You guys are from Iwa right?" They nod, "Well, then you can turn around and go back, I don't need your help."

Haku stared at her master in shock. He just got his ass handed to him by a couple of Genin and he thought he could handle it by himself? She was starting to question his sanity.

Deidara seemed to be thinking the same thing. "You have got to be kidding me. If they took you down at the top of your game how could you possibly think a rematch will change anything? The time you spend in bed recovering they will be using to train as I am sure that they will not be idle. You need us more than you think, and besides, this is our mission: we _have_ to do this, it is for the sake of our village and I for one have no intention of letting it fail because of some stubborn fool who thinks he's invincible."

Zabuza snorted, "And who are you coming in and telling me how to do my job? I don't need any…"

But before he could continue Haku cut him off, "We will gladly accept any assistance you are willing to give," she said gruffly glaring at Zabuza through her mask, daring him to disagree. Said man hung his head in defeat. Haku smiled behind her mask. He might be her surrogate father, but that didn't mean that he could boss her around all the time.

Naruto smiled happily, "Great! I look forward to working with you."

They talked for a while about what they would do and came up with a decent strategy: Naruto and Haku would spy on the enemy while they were practicing and since none of those on team Kakashi knew what Haku looked like there would be no recognition and Naruto would go along simply because no one would expect a sunny blond to be an enemy spy.

Once the details were ironed out Deidara along with Roshi, Hiro and Jinsoku returned to their residence while Naruto stayed behind to go over the finer details of the operation with Haku. None of Team Deidara nor Zabuza guessed as to why Haku really asked for Naruto to be 'his' partner.

They left the room and when to Haku's for privacy. Once inside Haku put up a sound barrier jutsu and turned on Naruto after closing the door.

"Okay I want to know why you look like a boy."

Naruto started to sweat. _Crap how did he find out? _"I-I don't know what you're talking about," 'he' said nervously.

Haku grinned behind her mask, "Oh I think you do. So why are you hiding? Got a man chasing after you and can't find any other way to keep hidden?"

Naruto was about to say that 'he' really had no idea when Haku's last words caught up to 'him'. "Are you saying this from experience?"

Haku sighed. If she wanted to get anything out of this girl she would have to reveal herself. "As a matter of fact, I am." She said as she removed her mask, revealing a very non-masculine face.

Naruto gasped. 'He' hadn't been expecting this, then again who would? But still this went beyond ordinary. I mean, how often do you come across people masquerading as the opposite gender?

Haku looked at the younger girl and smiled softly. "I don't know what you've gone thru, but I would like to think I have been in your shoes. Can you show me your real form?"

Naruto looked around, checking to make sure there were no hidden cameras or windows. Once 'he' was satisfied that there was no one watching 'he' turned to face Haku and made the hand signs to release the henge. "Kai," 'he' said quietly.

The jutsu dropped, and the change was simply breathtaking. Naruto's hair, that had once been a bright blond, turned to a crimson red, and where it had once been short, flowed past her shoulders to halfway down her back. Her eyes, that had once been ocean-blue, became a crystal violet, and if one looked close enough, would swear he could see light dancing within their entrancing depths. Her face, before only slightly feminine, now held no doubt that the owner of that face was quite obviously so. It had an innocent look about it that made anyone who gazed upon it feel the intense urge to protect her from anything that might harm her. Her body once quite masculine now was curvy and petite. In short: she looked like a goddess in human form.

While gazing upon her Haku had to fight the intense urge not to take her. Why she had that urge was quite obvious: Naruto was GORGEOUS. There was simply no other way to explain it. Even known womanizers would swear off others if they had the chance to be with her so beautiful was she. Haku thought she had a pretty good idea why Naruto was hiding behind a henge, but that definitely did not explain why she had a male name. So she asked.

"Why do you have a boy's name?"

The human goddess shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know. The Tsuchikage gave me the name. My mom wasn't very fond of it, so she came up with one for when it was just us."

Haku leaned in, her curiosity getting the better of her, "What was it? The name your mother gave you I mean?"

She smiled shyly, making Haku hold her breath, "Akahana."

(A/N: Just for reference, it was completely coincidental that Akira came up with that name. When Describing her she is as beautiful (or perhaps more so) than a rose and yet she is a ninja, so she can fight back. All-in-all: a red rose.)

The not-really hermaphrodite looked at the older girl and said girl saw that her eyes held a bit of fear in them. "You won't tell anyone will you? Deidara-sensei and Onoki-sama said that I need to keep my identity secret because people will come after me and hurt those I care about."

Haku didn't like how this was going. Her sensei and the Tsuchikage told her that her precious people would be hurt if she didn't hide her true face from people? Sounded more like they were trying to hide her from her people that want to find her for other far less sinister reasons. But she didn't know the whole story so she would hold her peace for now.

She smiled down at the young redhead, "Okay I won't tell anyone," she waved her finger at her, "But you have to stay like this when we go out information-gathering."

Akahana opened her mouth to protest but shut it upon realizing that nothing she could say would dissuade her more experienced counterpart. She hung her head, "Okay, I will stay like this, but," she brought her eyes back up to meet Haku's, "Deidara-sensei can NOT know about this, or else I am screwed five ways to Sunday."

Haku laughed, but agreed to the terms.

Resetting the henge, Naruto left the room with a now-masked Haku and they left to prepare for their mission tomorrow morning. Little did either know that something, or rather someONE had been watching them, and it was quite possibly the last one they had expected, had they even known he existed . The watcher's face split into a giant grin- it was quite disturbing considering that his face was split between the colors black and white and his head was surrounded by a giant venus flytrap- when he slipped out of the room after the girls were long gone. Zetsu had found the missing Jinchuuriki; Madara-sama would be most pleased.

The next day Naruto was walking toward Zabuza's base wearing a plain black tee and matching pants. But in his hands was something that would have looked very wrong on him had he put it on: a red kimono with roses running up the side, along with a bra and panties. Not something a young man would be caught dead in. Luckily Naruto wasn't really a young man.

Looking around quickly surveying the surrounding area 'Naruto' crept behind a tree and released the henge. Quickly taking off shirt, pants and boxers Akahana pulled on the panties and clipped on the bra and slipped into the kimono. She attached her kunai to her right arm under the sleeve for a quick release. Stashing her clothes in the hollow of the tree, she made sure that her art tools were undamaged from the journey and stood up. She checked herself in a mirror that Haku had given her before they parted the other day and noticed her headband was still on and hurriedly took it off and stuffed it in the bag She straightened her hair and walked out from behind the tree, and straight into a young man with black hair.

"Ahhh!"

They ended in a tangle of limbs.

The boy was the first to move. Getting up he reached out his hand to Akahana to help her up. Gratefully she accepted. He grabbed her bag off the ground

Once up she brushed her kimono off and smoothed it out. Looking up she felt her breath leave her lungs. And the boy across from her felt the same.

Sasuke had never seen such an image of beauty before in his life. Those violet eyes looked like jewels fit for a crown and her hair a fine silk waiting for a weaver. He had never experienced this feeling before: could it be love? No, that's impossible. And besides, even if it was, what would this angel want with him? But whatever he was feeling, his cheeks heated up just the same.

Akahana was speechless. This boy was obviously a fallen angel because she couldn't think of any other way Kami would have got away. His body looked like it was chiseled from the finest stone and his hair the color of the deepest blue. She blushed heavily.

They both looked away shyly. It was while she was turning away that she noticed something tied around his head. A ninja headband. More specifically: A leaf headband. She stiffened. She had never heard good things about Konoha shinobi. They were always depicted as evil people that just wait for the opportunity to cut you down. But if what just happened was any indication, that was most likely not true; at least, as far as this boy was concerned. And she was quite happy to have it that way. This way at least she could watch them train without them knowing what was really going on.

Fighting to control her intense blush, she looked up at the boy and saw that he was looking at her as well, and she was immediately lost in his onyx-black eyes, her fight lost.

Sasuke- having been better schooled on controlling his emotions- was able to fight his own blush down and saved Akahana from hers, if only momentarily, which he found very cute, "I'm sorry for running into you. I wasn't watching where I was going."

Blushing again Akahana looked down and said quietly, "It-it's a-alright, sir. You must have a lot of things on your mind, being a ninja and all."

Sasuke tensed, narrowing his eyes he asked the girl pointedly, "How did you know I am a ninja?"

Akahana giggled and pointed at his headband.

Suddenly feeling very foolish he blushed again and decided that it would be in his best interest to change the subject, "So, what are you out here all by yourself? It's dangerous to be out and about alone. Especially a girl as pretty as you." _CRAP! Did I just say that! Now she's going to think I'm a pervert. _

Hearing that he thought she was pretty made her blush deepen ten-fold. Deidara-sensei had said that she was too plain and that was one of the reasons why she wore the henge, although her mother disagreed with him when she told him what he said. But she couldn't help but think that it was a mother's prerogative to do so. "Yo-you really th-think I'm p-pretty?" _Damn that infernal stutter!_

No other boy had ever reduced her to this state. And there were some handsome boys back in Iwa. But suddenly she found herself wondering why she even thought that in the first place. If Konoha had boys like this all over the place then maybe she should move there and see about getting one for herself, preferably the one in front of her.

Sasuke was at a loss of what to say. Here was this beautiful girl who was around the same age as him who heard that he thought she was pretty and was actually _flattered_? He didn't know what to make of it. The villagers had told him he was incredibly ugly and all the other girls rejected him in favor of the Hokage's son and only his fellow Uchiha had said otherwise, besides the Hokage and his wife of course, and a small number of others who weren't prejudiced.

"W-well yeah, you are so why wouldn't I say it?" And then he had it, why she was so nervous, she had gotten the same treatment as him. He had seen the same things in himself not too long ago and only recently had he gotten over his insecurities. But it appeared she didn't have that opportunity so he would do try and assure her of that oh-so-obvious fact. "You are probably the prettiest girl I have ever seen in my life."

If the blush on Akahana's cheeks were already seven shades of red then, it increased tenfold after hearing that. She had never been complimented on her looks before, having to hide in her henge all the time. Maybe she should do this more often, then maybe she wouldn't act this way whenever someone complimented her. But then Deidara-sensei would catch wind of it and she would get in a lot of trouble and she didn't want that so she was back to square one. Sigh.

Looking down, she addressed the boy again, "S-so what are you doing here? There's not much here beyond the village," she finished stutterlessly. (A/N yes I am aware that is not a word)

Thankful for the change of topic, he happily went along with her, "Well, me and my team were hired by the local bridge builder to protect him until he completed the bridge connecting Wave to the mainland. We have already fought 3 ninja and one of them was an A-class nuke-nin." He said proudly. Akahana's eyes widened then quickly returned to their normal level. And then a small smirk formed on her lips before leaving just as quickly as the plan that she and Haku had discussed skipped a couple steps and went right to ingratiating herself to the young man.

"Oh! You're one of those brave ninjas that are going to help us?" She mentally gagged as she spoke to the handsome beast. (A/N in no way related to Lee)

_Wait, did I just think that?_

Sasuke smirked, unwittingly making her swoon. She mentally slapped herself at her fan-girlish attitude.

"I guess I name is Sasuke Uchiha. What's yours?"

"Akahana."

"So, what are you doing out here? It's not exactly safe these days."

Akahana struggled to remember her cover story and said as calmly as she could, "I had heard stories about the beauty of Wave Country and decided that I would come out here and take some sketches." She emphasized this by opening her bag and leaning forward so he could see the palette, paints and brushes.

Sasuke was intrigued, "Do you think I could watch you paint for a little while? I don't have to report back for a while and it would be a nice to see some of the scenery. Perhaps you would let me watch you paint as well?"

This time when she spoke she had a faint blush on her cheeks, her eyes on the ground. "I am not that good. You would probably hate it."

Sasuke chuckled, "I am sure you are a great artist. Surely it couldn't hurt to let me watch you for a little while?" As soon as the words were out of his mouth he realized what he had said, and he blushed a deep crimson, putting his favorite fruit to shame.

Akahana blushed again, looking down at her feet in an attempt to hide it, "I'm still not sure why you would want to watch me do anything, but if you really want to, I won't stop you." She couldn't believe what she was saying. Here she was supposed to be tricking him into doing stuff and somehow it had turned into a 'he compliments she turns to goo' situation. Honestly, you would think she was a little school girl with a crush, however apt that description might be.

Sasuke smirked, _This girl is easily more beautiful than Sakura. I just wish she was a citizen of Konoha then I would be able to see her all the time. _(A/N About that…) As soon as the thought left his head, he grimaced. If she was a citizen of Konoha she wouldn't even consider talking with him like this.

Akahana looked up at him shyly, making his heart beat rapidly, and said, "Well, if you're sure. . . I guess it couldn't hurt."

With that said she started walking down the road again and hitched up the bag in her arms to keep it from falling. Sasuke, seeing another opportunity to endear himself to her, strode forward and wrested the bag from her arms, earning a startled squeak from the aforementioned girl.

"W-what a-are y-you d-doing? Give th-that back!" she stuttered.

Sasuke shook his head smirking, making her inwardly swoon, "Can't do that. It wouldn't look right if I let you carry this heavy bag all the way to the beach now would it?"

"B-but it's n-not that h-heavy!" she protested feebly.

He turned his head back toward her, using his good looks to full advantage, "Don't be ridiculous, I am surprised you carried it this far without dropping it. Now why don't you just let me take it from here."

Akahana's blush went from a stage one to stage ten in five seconds flat and it didn't look like it was going away any time soon.

They walked down the road in silence sending shy glances at each other the entire way when they thought the other wasn't looking. Eventually they made it to a cliff where they had a clear view of the ocean and the village. Setting down her bag, Sasuke stretched his arms exaggeratingly, giving Akahana full view of his muscled body, resulting in the return of the blush she had just managed to bring under control.

Setting up her stand she set the canvas on it and got out her paint. Sitting down on a conveniently located stump she looked out beyond the cliff's edge and took in the beautiful view. Then she started painting: the colors blending together to a melody of nature and forming a picture of intense passion and beauty.

While she was painting, Sasuke looked over her shoulder and couldn't help but gasp at the art being created before his very eyes. The sky a perfect shade of blue with the incoming clouds on the horizon; the ocean a reflective blue; the village buildings crafted with such fine detail from the pointed roofs to the tiny stalls; even the villagers were included in the masterpiece. Sasuke couldn't help but be amazed at the sight.

By the time she was finished, the sun was low in the sky and Sasuke found himself pressed to return to his team. While she was putting away her things, he smiled at her apologetically, "I'm sorry, but it seems that I won't be able to walk you home, I have to return to my team before nightfall or else they will start looking for me and tear the village apart in the process. Do you think we could meet as the same time tomorrow?" He looked at her hopefully.

Akahana wanted to say no but her mouth had other plans, "I would love to. But next time I won't be painting the village."

Smiling Sasuke started to turn around when she stopped him and said, "Thank you for today," and gave him a kiss on the cheek before running away, leaving a sputtering Uchiha in her wake.

When she was a out of his line of sight, she started to mentally berate herself, _What the heck was I thinking? He's a Leaf shinobi! He and I could never be together. I hope Deidara Sensei doesn't notice anything._

Back with Sasuke, he was still standing in the spot where Akahana had left him trying to wrap his mind around the fact that he had just been kissed (on his cheek, but still) and stood there for several moments more before he came to his senses and rushed back to Tazuna's house.

It took him a few minutes of leaping through the trees but eventually he landed in front of the door and pushed it open. Once inside he walked over to the dinner table where the others had just sat down to eat dinner and settled between Kakashi and Inari.

Everyone just stared at him. Not because he sat down mind you or because he was late coming back, no it was because he was freaking humming. Now I don't know about you but Uchiha's do NOT hum, they chortle, they and chuckle but they do NOT hum. Finally Kakashi got over his shock enough to ask, "So what's got you feeling so happy Sasuke?"

Sasuke gave him a sidelong glance while filling his plate, "I met a girl today."

Sakura snorted at that, "Yeah, and I bet she was real ugly too, if she spent any time with you."

Now at that _Sasuke_ smirked, sending a shiver down everyone's spines. You see, it's not often anymore that you see an Uchiha smirk, considering that they are often looked down on and have to fight for everything they have.

"And that, pinky is where you are wrong," Sakura gaped at him, before switching to a glare at the nickname, "She was far more beautiful than you or anyone in the village. And she wasn't wearing any make-up either."

Naruto at this point couldn't help but ask, "So who is she? This girl that has you so besotted?"

And then Sasuke breathed the one word Kakashi thought he would never hear again, "Akahana."

Kakashi at that moment was taking a drink through his mask and spit out the liquid, spraying it all over Naruto and Sakura. He whirled on Sasuke, grabbing him by the collar and dragging him up to his own face, "What did you just say?"

Sasuke was understandably terrified of his sensei and squeaked out, "Akahana."

Kakashi looked down for a moment, _If this is who I think it is… I have to find out._ "What did she look like?"

Sasuke smirked again, "She had long gorgeous red hair that went down halfway down her back and the most captivating violet eyes I have ever seen. Heck, I think she had a B-cup, and she's only our age, well, mine and Sakura's. Ahhhh" He was lost in his memories of her. Everyone else sweatdropped, well everyone else except for Sakura- who was furious at the thought of someone having bigger breast's than her- and Kakashi- who had turned into a statue with a look that looked like a cross between horror and hope on his face.

_It can't be. She's been missing for so long, to suddenly turn up here. Did we even look here_? He thought hard about it for a moment, _Nope definitely didn't check here. _His face broke into a double smile, his mouth, which you couldn't see, and his right eye. If his left eye was uncovered and he could actually his eyelid over it he would have done so and made it a triple. Everyone looked at him like he was crazy, except for Sasuke who was still lost in la-la land thinking about his "precious Akahana".

"Sasuke," he said, trying to get his students attention. Said boy didn't respond, the dreamy look still in his eyes. "Sasuke." Same result. "SASUKE!" he yelled, shaking the boy furiously. That got it. "When is the next time you see her?"

"Tomorrow. Why?" he looked at Kakashi suspiciously.

"I need you to bring her over here next time. I would very much like to meet her."

Even if he hadn't said her name, the description sounded exactly like Kushina Namikaze from when she was a Genin. And Naruto couldn't help but notice the similarities as well.

Tomorrow would bring some very interesting discoveries.

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Please Review! It will make me very happy! But please no flames.


	6. Chapter 5: Heart's Secret Yearning

Sorry for taking so long. Senior year stuff. Will try to be quicker with the next one. No promises though.

Iwa Shinobi Chapter 5: A Heart's Secret Yearning

Disclaimer: Me no ownie. If I did, i would be suing all the writers of the bad fics.

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Tazuna's house

Sasuke woke up in a daze, a smile plastered onto his face. He had had the most wonderful dream in his entire life (which wasn't much) about a beautiful red-haired girl who he had asked to be his girlfriend and she had said yes.

It wasn't until a few moments later that he came out of said daze and realized that he would be meeting the red-haired goddess again today and that there wasn't much time until he had to meet up with her. And he had to bring her around the house to meet Kakashi-sensei. He only hoped that she wouldn't be upset about having their time together spent with others.

^_^Iwa Shinobi^_^

Cliff

"I would love to meet your sensei!"

To say Sasuke was surprised would be like saying Jiraiya was a pervert, in other words: a huge understatement. He had not expected it. He had thought that she, like he, would want to spend their time together alone.

"Why?" he asked suspiciously.

She smiled at him, his heart beat rapidly, "Why wouldn't I want to meet the man that trained you? If you turned out this good, I can only imagine what your sensei is like."

He gaped. He just couldn't believe it: she wanted to meet him not because of his history, but simply because Kakashi had trained _him_. She had managed to give him an answer and compliment him at the same time. He smiled.

"Well, if you insist Rose."

She turned a brilliant shade of crimson, "I d-do Sasuke." 1

Sasuke smirked, while trying to cover up his own blush, "Well, alright if you insist. But I must warn you: my teammates are not as nice as I am. Just stay out of their way and you'll be fine."

With that they started down the cliff to Team 7's host's home.

^_^ Iwa Shinobi^_^

Tazuna's House

When they reached the door they stopped. Sasuke had been holding her hand the entire time and he noticed that she was shaking. He squeezed her hand reassuringly. She gave him a weak smile in return. His heart felt like it could break and he had the sudden urge to whisk her away so the feeling would go away. But he had promised his sensei that he would bring her over and that was what he was going to do.

Sasuke took a deep breath and pushed the door open. Leading her inside he called out, "Kakashi-sensei, we're here."

They heard some noises from the kitchen and after a moment of waiting the man who was called sensei walked into the living room, and froze upon sight of Sasuke's companion, his visible eye widening dramatically.

Kakashi couldn't believe his eyes. Standing before him was what anyone who spent a good deal of their life with the Namikaze's, a carbon copy of Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze, wife of the Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze, his sensei.

The red hair flowed down her back and gave off a shine that could rival the sun and eyes of violet that were more precious than any jewel and a face that could only be compared to a goddesses. Kakashi had thought this way when he had first seen Kushina Uzumaki while she was dating Minato-sensei. And if he was right (and he was one-hundred percent sure he was) this was their first child.

Just then Naruto walked into the room and saw a girl that looked just like his mom and started walking up the stairs and. . . _wait looks like mom?_ His head whirled around so fast Kakashi wondered how he didn't break his neck.

He growled, "Alright who are you and why are you impersonating my mother?"

Akahana's widened in surprise, _I look like his mom? _Taking a deep breath she says shakily, "I'm not sure I know what you're implying sir. I have always looked this way."

Having confirmed his suspicions, Kakashi stepped forward and extended his hand, giving her an eye-smile, Hi there young lady, my name is Kakashi Hatake. I am Sasuke-kun's sensei. The young man over there with the accusing glare is Naruto, and there is another student of mine around here somewhere by the name of Sakura Haruno. You can recognize her by her pink hair. I honestly don't know anyone else with pink hair so there shouldn't be any mix-ups. Now what did you say your name was again?"

"Aka-Akahana," she said nervously as everyone's eyes were on her. Sasuke sensing her discomfort grabbed her hand and squeezed it, she smiled at him showing her gratitude.

Naruto, recognizing the name instantly rushed forward and yanked her away from Sasuke, earning an indignant squeak in return, "Hands off my sister Uchiha, she's too good for the likes of you."

"Hey! I ain't nobodies' sister!" She yelled trying to get out of his grip.

Naruto tightened his grip and glared at her, silencing her and she ceased her struggle, blushing underneath the scathing glare, "You are my sister Akahana. Neither Mom nor Dad stop crying about how they couldn't find you and after all these years we finally did it. No thanks to that worthless Uchiha."

Akahana's eyes narrowed dangerously. From what she could tell, it would appear that Sasuke was in fact the Uchiha. Perhaps he was not the best person to befriend, even if he made her heart go all aflutter. She wished she didn't act like a cruddy fan-girl whenever he was around, but perhaps it was for the best. And she had absolutely no idea why this guy was calling her his sister. _I mean,it's not like I'm a carbon copy of his mom right?_ She really didn't know, and honestly, she didn't want to find out.

If for whatever bizarre reason she was in fact his sister than that would mean her entire village hates her (well since they didn't actually know what she looks like since she is always wearing the henge but that's beside the point). Being the daughter of her village's most hated and feared enemy was definitely not something she needed be. _But having a brother and parents that care about me would be nice. _Ever since Akira, her adoptive mom, gave birth to her and Minoru's first real child, a baby girl, she had spent less time with her, and even less time caring about her. She had her own child to worry about. No time left for the replacement when she has the real thing. But she still owed her for taking her in, and it would be a betrayal if she didn't return to Iwa with her team.

And besides, there was no way that he could _really_ like her. After all, her own mother didn't like her anymore so why should this boy. She wasn't pretty, so there was no reason for anyone to like her in that way. She was going to be alone the rest of her life.

She shook her head, "But I'm a nobody, and nobodies don't have families that cry over them." She looked down at the floor, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. Shinobi she might be, but human being came first.

At that everyone stopped arguing and stared at her. She could feel their eyes boring into her. Her 'brother's' arms tightened their hold on her. He lifted her head up and looked in her eyes.

"You are right a nobody doesn't have a family to cry over them," she lowered her eyes, tears starting to trickle down her face. She tried to pull away but he held her tight, forcing her to look in his eyes again, "But you. Are not. A nobody. Do you understand me Akahana? Do you sister? I wouldn't be holding you if you were a nobody. And neither would our parents have cried themselves to sleep every night since you disappeared," he paused, a thought suddenly crossing his mind, "Speaking of disappearing, where did you vanish off to?"

Her defenses already broken, she answered, "Iwa."

If the atmosphere was already tense, then now it was so thick you could cut it with a knife, and barely scratch it.

Suddenly her brain caught up with her mouth and her eyes widened dramatically, shit I wasn't supposed to say that. Now they're going to torture and interrogate me about what I saw and heard there and then execute me. She suddenly tried to break out her brother's grip. Still shocked he didn't try to stop her. But before she could make it out the door, Sasuke grabbed her, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her to his chest. After several attempts to get away she realized she was never going to see her teammates or Deidara-sensei or Haku or old man Tsuchikage again. She was going to be locked in a tiny cell and fed bread crumbs for the rest of her life. She broke down in his arms and sobbed her heart out. Somehow being in his arms let her release all her pent-up emotions. She felt like no one would judge her while he held her, that no one could hurt her.

Sasuke held her close while she cried, wishing there was something he could do or say to make her feel better but he also needed to calm himself down as he had just heard that his new crush was the daughter of the Yondaime Hokage and had been raised in Iwa all her life. The latter part was more of a blessing because it meant that she wasn't around to hear all the slander and hurtful things the villagers have said about his clan, but the former meant that she was out of his league.

Kakashi after recovering from his shock walked over to the girl that he hadn't seen since she was born and was being carried into battle in Minato-sensei's arms and picked her up. By some act of Kami, she didn't fight him, in fact she flung her arms around his neck and continued to sob. Luckily she was so small otherwise it wouldn't have worked, she was slightly shorter than Sasuke and a great deal lighter so it made it a lot easier to hold her.

And on top of that she felt safe in his arms, nothing like when she was in Sasuke's, but safe nonetheless. Kakashi's uncovered eye softened considerably at the sight of this girl who had been who had been mocked for her beauty. She only wished that things wouldn't go badly. Deidara-sensei would probably whisk her away and make her put on the henge again and play the boy that she never wanted to be. Why did males have it so easy?

Outside in a tree bordering the house a young man was watching the entire scene run. His brown hair sticking up behind the mask that covered his face, which looked like a hawk, his hitai-ite wrapped around his forearm, bearing the symbol for Iwagakure. He had his hand on a katana on his back for a quick draw in case the Konoha shinobi harm his charge.

The day wasn't done yet though. For in a tree next to the Tremor was another masked ninja who had the symbol for mist engraved on the top of it. But instead of a ninja outfit there was a formfitting pink kimono that hugged the female nin's curves. Oddly enough the nin from both trees were masking their chakra so well that neither could detect the other.

Haku was watching the entire proceedings and couldn't help the tears running down her face. She only wished she could let her stay with them, then she would be treated right, but alas then Zabuza-sama would be in trouble for allowing one of Iwa's shinobi going missing and it would put Akahana/Naruto in a bind because she shouldn't know any jutsus. Although from she heard she is guessing it wouldn't be a stretch to assume that she had training because she was raised by their greatest enemy. Granted she is wondering why they haven't asked why she was here in the first place. Oh well, at least she's safe for the moment.

Back in the house Kakashi was holding the crying thirteen year-old and noticed that her sobs were becoming more akin to sniffles. Drawing her back he looked her in the eyes with his one and said, "We have never stopped hoping. We prayed that we would find you so many years that it became a mantra, saying the same thing over and over again. "Please return Sensei's daughter to us". We never stopped and now it seems that our prayers have been answered. Of course this probably wasn't the best place for you to show up at and definitely not the best time but for now we are just thankful to have found you. And when this mission is over we will go home to Konoha together, where your mother and father are waiting for you. How do you feel about that?"

Another sniffle, looking into his eye with her tear-filled ones, she nodded, smiling, "That sounds wonderful."

Kakashi's eye crinkles into a smile, "Good. I am sorry to cut this short but my team needs to train. We have a missing nin to contend with and I will not let my team fail. I will be leaving Sakura with you for company and protection while Sasuke and Naruto and I are out training."

Akahana's eyes widened when she heard her brother's name, "N-N-Naruto?"

"Yeah, that's my name. Why have you heard it before?"

Thinking fast she said, "N-no. It's just that there's someone in Iwa that has the same name."

Seeing the others nod accepting what she said she gave herself and internal pat on the back and sighed in relief at the avoiding that potential catastrophe.

With that the boys left with Kakashi and Sakura walked up to her and extended her hand, "Hi, my name's Sakura Haruno. I'm Naruto-kun's teammate." Naruto-kun?

"Are you dating my b-brother?" That's going to take a while to get used to.

She giggles, which was very annoying because she just asked her a yes or no question, and on top of that her giggle was obnoxious, "No, but he will come around eventually and see that we are meant for each other."

Akahana sweat-dropped, _Great, a fan-girl, just what I need to end my day; a girl who can't get her head of my brother's ass._

Noticing her discomfort, Sakura decided to tone down her fan-girl-ness and talk about Konoha. They talked for a while, each saying what they thought or had heard about the ninja village.

When the boys were just about done with training they heard a scream coming from Tazuna's house. It was Sakura. Fearing the worst, they stopped what they were doing and rushed back to their temporary dwelling and saw the door lying on the ground broken off its hinges. Running inside they saw Sakura lying on the ground in a pool of blood with a wound in her side. Running through handsigns Kakashi rushed forward and placed them on the wound. After a few moments it closed and Kakashi leaned backward and sighed in relief.

Behind him Sasuke and Naruto were looking frantically for Akahana and when they saw a strip of red cloth they immediately knew what had happened: Iwa had taken her, again. Sasuke slammed his fist onto the ground, tears pouring out of his eyes. Naruto, in turn, clenched his fists tightly, so hard in fact that blood started running down his hands, and his eyes shut tight in sorrow. He had just found his long-long sister and she was taken from him not five hours after meeting her. He didn't know what he was going to his. . . Parents! Oh shit he had completely forgotten about them! If they heard that they found her and that she had been in Iwa this entire time they would raise an army and storm the Village Hidden in the Rocks, resulting in many innocent lives lost.

He marched over to Kakashi-sensei and asked, "When do you think she will wake up?"

Kakashi looked up at his sensei's student, he sighed, "Hard to tell really, might be tomorrow, might be next week there is just no way to know. We can only hope that she actually hope does wake up, otherwise we will never know what happened to Akahana," he closed his eye sadly, "I don't know how I will be able to talk to Sensei after this."

Naruto stared off into the distance for a moment before his eyes hardened, "We tell him the truth. We found my sister and that she was kidnapped just after we relocated her. We just can't tell him or mom about Iwa being involved with this because of the treaty we have with them although I can't help but think they were doing that to throw off suspicion and it was very sudden when they asked for an alliance with us."

Kakashi nodded his head in agreement, "We'll do that, but before we do anything else we should get Sakura upstairs and into a futon. I can't imagine sleeping on a floor to be very comfortable."

^_^Iwa Shinobi^_^

At the Iwa teams hideout

After Haku and Jinsoku retrieved Akahana, Deidara was having a rather 'heated' discussion with Roshi on the matter.

"She could have jeopardized the entire operation!"

It seemed that during the time it took for Akahana/Naruto to be retrieved Roshi had revealed that he knew he was really a she. Hiro being the grandson of the Sandaime Tsuchikage obviously knew about her real gender. And Jinsoku, well, they weren't really sure how he knew but he did.

"And what would you have her do? Sit back and miss the only chance at a real family? Have you seen Akira lately? She acts nothing like she used to. So don't even pretend that she cares for the girl anymore!" Roshi roared at the three-mouth nin.

"She's just going through a rough patch. She just had a baby you know!" Deidara tried to reason.

But Roshi was having none of it, "She had a baby four years ago Deidara! Four years! I hardly think that's an excuse. And a rough patch! Are you serious? That woman doesn't even spare her a second glance!"

In her bedroom Akahana was lying on the bed hugging her knees to her chest, crying. She had just found out she had a brother and parents [After giving birth to Hana(means favorite) she had stopped pretending that she was her mother in private and told her that she was adopted and that she had been forced onto her to raise], and then they took him from her only chance at happiness away and now she was going to have to return to that accursed place that used to be her home but was now more akin to a prison.

Her so-called 'father' had been ecstatic during her early years but when she didn't do everything that he thought a perfect son should do he started to grow distant from her. And when Akira announced she was pregnant he withdrew from her immediately. Of course he thought he was a guy and it is kindof hard for a girl to be a perfect son so she was improvising most of the time.

Akira, although she had been great in her early years as well, grew distant because she was tired of pretending she had a son when it was really a daughter and when she came out with her pregnancy she was happy to have a child of her own, or at least another attempt because the last one had ended so badly.

It just wasn't fair.

* * *

I am very much aware that this chapter is sappy, but I had to do it sometime. Please Review! It would make my day.

1: nard it! You can't make a nickname with Sasuke. It means warrior and nothing goes with it. If any of you can think of a good nickname for him please tell me in a review. Much appreciated!

Til Next Time! ^_^!


	7. Author's note

Author's Note

Sorry guys. I know I promised I would be quicker but I ran out of time. I have a surgery today so it will be a while before I will have the energy or the willpower to finish the chapter I am working on right now.

Regards,

Vangran


	8. Chapter 6: Clash of Souls

The Iwa Shinobi chapter 6: Clash of Souls

And now the moment you have all been waiting for. It's my longest one yet. I give you the battle on the bridge.

dhh: I am happy that you took the time to review. However you did not need to be so combative. I will be explaining the difference between Naruto Namikaze and Naruto/Akahana later in this chapter.

Disclaimer: You're joking right? If I owned Naruto I wouldn't be so pressed for cash and I would go the best school money can buy. Or not, but that's beside the point. I also don't own Rurouni Kenshin.

* * *

Two days after Akahana's retrieval Haku decided that she needed some herbs to speed up Zabuza's healing process, and that she would take her heart-broken boy-impersonating girl with her, much to Deidara's chagrin.

"She is not going and that is final!" Deidara was dead-set against her going outside again after the last 'fiasco' as he called it.

"She needs some fresh air. She has been cooped up in here for three days. She needs the exercise." Haku argued vehemently.

Roshi threw in his two cents, "You're the one who accepted this mission, Deidara. If you won't let her play her part then what point was there in having her come?"

Deidara glared at the elder jinchuuriki for a moment before he closed his eyes and bowed his head in resignation, "Do what you want with her. But do NOT let those Leaf nin take her. I will not have a repeat performance."

Haku just waved at him and walked off after grabbing Akahana and going out the front door.

The two girls were wearing kimonos that were quite complimentary, Haku's being pink and Akahana's being blue.

Forest Clearing

Upon entering the clearing they spotted a young man lying face-up in the grass, the surrounding trees showing slash marks from what they could only guess was a kunai. Upon walking up to the guy however, Akahana couldn't help but gasp: it was Sasuke.

She didn't know what to do. On the one hand: if Sasuke saw her he would try and take her back but she would have a final moment with him before she disappeared from his life forever. On the other, however: she wouldn't get that last time but wouldn't have the agony of him trying to rescue her from her hellhole of her life without success.

Bowing her head in resignation she knew she had to go with the second. But before she left she leaned down give him a farewell kiss on the cheek when he woke up and turned his head, causing their lips to collide in a kiss that neither would forget any time soon.

Pulling back from the kiss that was etched into her soul, she got up and gave a tearful, "Goodbye Sasuke," and ran from the clearing.

Sasuke, still dazed from sleep and the kiss, didn't get up when she left and didn't truly wake up until she was too far away for it to matter. He lay back down and sighed. He finally got a kiss from the girl of his dreams but he was too out of it to do anything to stop her from leaving. Little did he know that the girl in question was hiding herself behind a nearby tree suppressing her chakra so she could continue to be near him.

Looking up he saw there was another girl in the clearing and saw she was really pretty, although she had nothing on Akahana. Then he realized something: Akahana had just been here so that meant that this new girl must know where she went.

Getting up off the ground he marched over to her, looked her square in the eye and said, "Do you know where Akahana went?"

Haku, who wasn't supposed to be but was, was well aware of everything that happened between Sasuke and her partner-in-crime. Shaking her head she said, "I'm sorry but I don't know any girl by that name. Is she precious to you?"

Sasuke was about to yell at her, demanding she tell her when her words reached his brain, he paused, his mouth open. He closed it and thought about it for a moment. There was his kaa-san and tou-san, and then there was his Nii-san, and of course Hokage-sama and Kushina-sama. And finally Akahana-chan. Wait, _chan_? When did that happen? He shook his head; he really liked her so it only made sense.

Snapping out of his thoughts he remembered that the girl was still there. He decided to answer her, "Yes, I do."

Haku smiled, _It looks like she picked the right boy._ "If you have a person who is precious to you and they are in danger, you will become stronger than you could ever have imagined possible. For only when you have someone to fight for can you unlock your true potential," pausing a moment, she added, "By the way, I'm a boy."

Sasuke was speechless, he wasn't expecting a philosophical conversation as soon as he woke up, yet here he was. Also, this person he had been talking to just said they were a boy. But he was prettier than Ino! But, like his previous thoughts, still didn't hold a candle to Akahana-chan.

Seeing as he wasn't talking Haku decided to leave it at that and went around the clearing picking the herbs necessary for a proper recovery for her Zabuza-sama.

Meanwhile Sasuke was still mulling over her words. As soon as he had a firm grasp of the concept he looked up and opened his mouth to respond when he noticed the girl was gone, having filled her quota for the time being.

Frowning he turned around and walked back towards Tazuna's house, the memory of having kissed Akahana rushing back to the front of his mind as he put the brunette's speech behind him, a blush rising to his cheeks. Quickly, he decided that he wouldn't mention it to his teammates or Kakashi-sensei as he they would probably pummel him for having kissed Hokage-sama's daughter, even if it was her that instigated it.

Taking a deep breath he schooled his face and opened the door to Tazuna's house.

^_^Iwa Shinobi^_^

Dirt road 

Haku ran to catch up with Akahana. Seeing that she wasn't going to stop running any time soon she leaps in front of her. She tried to go around her but Haku was having none of it. She grabbed her arm and forced her to stop and look at her. And she was saddened by what she saw.

Akahana's face was a mess: her eyes were red and puffy from crying and her cheeks stained because of the same; her lips kept quivering and tears were still spilling down.

"Oh Akahana," Haku dropped her basket of herbs and pulled the younger girl into her arms.

"I-I don't want to fight him, Haku, I don't want to fight anyone. Why do I always have to fight?" she cried into her chest.

Her heart went out to her, she was like this once too, but Zabuza-sama had shown her that if you weren't willing to fight for the ones you love you didn't deserve to have any to call such. But in Akahana's case, she wasn't even given a choice in whether she wanted this or not. And she had loved ones on both sides- a lose-lose situation.

"I know you don't want to, but right now you have to. Don't worry, I will be right there with you every step of the way. We are partners, remember?" she got a shaky nod against her chest in reply. She smiled. Pulling back from the hug, she looks into Akahana's eyes, "You are not alone in this, and you are not the first person to be in this position either. Sometimes we have to fight battles we would prefer not to, but must otherwise others we love will get hurt as well. Just don't lose sight of your true precious people and you will be alright," Akahana gave a faint sniffle and nod in response, "Good, now, was he a good kisser?"

Akahana blushed so brightly that it rivaled her hair, "W-what k-kind of q-question is that?"

Haku smirked, "Oh, come on, you can tell me. Girl to girl. I promise not to tell another soul. Now give me tell me."

The red-haired (and faced) ninja looked away for a moment, a small smile forming on her lips, "It was magnificent. His lips were so soft and yet so strong. I thought I would lose feeling in my legs if it had lasted any longer."

Haku's smirk grew, "Well, well, well, I think our little violet-eyed wonder is in love," said girl's blush deepened if that was even possible, and apparently was. Laughing, Haku picked her basket back up and linked arms with Akahana, "Come on, lover girl, I'm sure your sensei is worried about you."

^_^The Iwa Shinobi^_^

3 days later

Zabuza's hideout

After a couple days rest, and with the help of the herbs Haku and Akahana gathered, Zabuza was finally healthy enough for them to make their move, much to said-man's great joy, if the glimmer in his eyes was any indication.

With everyone gathered they went over the strategy. However, there was one point that seemed to be of concern. . .

"That girl will NOT be participating in this battle, do I make myself clear? Onoki-sensei told me that if there was any conflict, if it can be avoided, she will sit it out," guess who.

"But Deidara-sensei, how can I prove myself capable if you don't let me actually DO anything?" Akahana tried to argue, hurt that he didn't think she could do it.

"That is not the point and you know it. You have been acting strangely ever since Jinsoku brought you back from the Leaf Shinobi's house and even if Onoki-sensei hadn't told me I wouldn't have let you go. You have grown attached to them, and that is not acceptable. They destroyed our village and you were openly embracing them. You have to learn that . . ."

"My brother is on that team Deidara-sensei," she said quietly, breaking him off his lecture.

He looked at her wide-eyed, as he finally started to realize why everything had happened, and why she was so open with them. He cursed his luck the day he found. If he hadn't, then this drama wouldn't be unfolding before him.

Roshi, who was standing off to the side, nodded his head in understanding. Most Jinchuuriki didn't have any family, so finding out you had one even if they were on the other side was a miracle. Of course she still didn't know she was one but that was beside the point. She would find out soon enough.

Deciding that the argument had gone on long enough, Roshi spat a small amount of lava at the two in question, earning yelps of pain as they hadn't been paying attention.

"Now that's enough. Deidara," said man glared at him, still in pain, "You knew the moment she put on that headband that she became a true shinobi of Iwa. Also, you were the one who accepted this mission so it is in a roundabout way your fault that everything happened." Deidara hung his head; Akahana beamed. But Roshi wasn't done yet. He rounded on Akahana. "And you, young lady. I don't care if your kaa-san's dog is on that team they are the enemy and will be treated as such. Do I make myself clear?"

A tear fell down her face, but she nodded all the same , "H-hai."

^_^The Iwa Shinobi^_^

Tazuna's House

Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura were standing at the door of the house with Tazuna and Tsunami. "Let Sasuke know when he wakes up that we went on ahead to the bridge. He worked hard training yesterday so let him sleep in."

Tsunami smiled, "Hai. Have a nice day tou-san." She kissed Tazuna on the cheek, waving the team off.

At the Bridge

When the group arrived, the workers were scattered about on the ground, some were merely unconscious while others were in pools of blood.

The team surrounded Tazuna, kunais at the ready, a thick mist rolled in. And a familiar voice broke through, "So those brats are still with you, Kakashi? Where's the scared one? He was fun to mess with."

Kakashi narrowed his eye. He reached up to his headband and pulled it up, revealing his Sharingan once again.

Zabuza appeared out of the mist with two forms by his side.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, "I see you have your hunter with you, and another crony as well. No matter, Naruto, fight with them until Sasuke arrives, then work together to take them down. Sakura, protect Tazuna."

Naruto narrowed his own eyes in response, "I do not need help from that Dobe. I will be fine on my own." Not waiting for a response, he charged the two by Zabuza's side. They vanished into the mist. Naruto gave chase.

Naruto leaped out of the mist and landed on the bridge with kunai drawn. It was then that he got a good look at the second accomplice. He had long, pale blond hair tied in a ponytail, a strand covering his right eye (the opposite of Deidara's). He wore black combat pants with a black shirt and vest to match. He wore his headband on his head partially hidden by his hair. He had bright blue eyes that seemed to make you want to look away immediately from the power they held.

But if you looked a second longer you would see a great sadness was held within them, like he didn't like what he was about to do.

Turning to Haku, 'Naruto' gave a nod, signaling their own attack. They moved to opposite sides of the bridge, one on each side of Naruto Namikaze (who shall now simply be called Namikaze to clear any confusion).

Namikaze threw his kunai at the blond on his left side and grabbed an explosive tag from his pack. He attached it to his next kunai and threw it at the girl. She created a wall of ice stopping the kunai short and remained standing even after the tag went off. Naruto blocked the kunai thrown at him and threw his back in response. After his hands blurred as they did handseals and when they stopped he cried out, "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"

Immediately a giant water dragon appeared behind him and surged toward Namikaze, who on reflex did a series of handseals and shouted "Wind Style: Wind Barrier Jutsu!"

The dragon crashed into the wind that shielded its prey and splashed everywhere, leaving Naruto slightly wet and the bridge covered in water.

Haku didn't waste time in using this to her advantage. Going through a hurried amount of handseals, she called out, "Secret Style: Crystal Ice Mirrors!"

The water on the bridge floated into the air and dozens of ice mirrors started forming themselves. Namikaze in an effort to dwindle their numbers grabbed a fan from his side and waved it at the mirrors and said, "Wind Scythe Jutsu!" Tiny blades of wind launched themselves at the mirrors but they couldn't even scratch them because of one thing.

"Your attacks are useless. No wind jutsu could ever destroy my mirrors. It is made of wind and water after all," Haku explained.

Namikaze frowned at this information; he was a wind nature, so most of his jutsus were, naturally of that kind. This was going to be an uphill battle. Grabbing more explosive tags and kunais he threw six of them at the mirrors hoping to damage them but once the smoke cleared they began reforming.

_Crap!_

Naruto gave a shaky breath before forming the tiger seal and saying, "Water Style: Liquid Bullet!"

He drew his head back and launched a giant ball of water straight at Namikaze through an opening in the mirrors.

Said ninja turned his head to the side at the sound of the voice and widened his eyes in shock. He was about to jump out of the way when a senbon shot out of a mirror and hit the ground in front of him. Pausing him just enough for the bullet to hit him in the side, knocking him to the ground.

Haku, taking advantage of the situation threw senbons at Namikaze who tried to roll out of the way but still got hit by multiple senbon. When he stopped moving, Naruto became worried. Rushing over he checked his pulse and when he couldn't find one he gave out a choked sob. Haku- realizing what the problem was- jumped out of the mirror and hugged him from behind.

"It's alright. He's just unconscious. He will wake up as soon as the fight is over."

Nodding tiredly from crying, he wiped his eyes and stood up.

^_^The Iwa Shinobi^_^

Tazuna's house

Sasuke sat up slowly. He had just woken up and he hadn't expected to feel so rested. So, upon waking he got up and grabbed his gear and put on his clothes. It was at that moment that he heard yelling from downstairs. Rushing to the top of the stairs he kneeled and tried to hear what they were saying.

"Now you come with us or your little boy gets it." A thug's voice said harshly.

"Please, I'll do whatever you want just don't hurt my son!" Tsunami's voice cried,

A smaller voice yelled, "Don't do it mom! I'll be fine. Just run!" That was Inari.

Deciding that he had heard enough Sasuke charged down the stairs his hands flying through handseals and made a ring in front of his mouth with his fingers. Once the thugs came into view he leaped over Tsunami and fired the ball at them point-blank and blasted them out of the house. Landing, Tsunami ran over and hugged Inari.

"Inari, I want you to hide in the basement. If they come back they won't look for you there."

Inari shook his head vehemently, "No, I am not going to hide while you're in danger."

Turning to face them, Sasuke said, "You won't have to deal with anymore of these guys if you just stand up to them. If you stay afraid, they will walk over you every time. Fight back! I know I am."

And with that he left, running out the door he passed by the charred forms of the two thugs laying unconscious on the ground and smirked as he jumped into the trees heading toward the bridge.

Back in the house Inari was thinking over Sasuke's words and decided what he would do. Running deep into the house he found what he was looking for. It was an old trunk. Opening it up, he moved things around until he found it. Pulling it out, he ran outside and rushed toward the village, his decision made.

^_^The Iwa Shinobi^_^

The Bridge

Back with the others, Kakashi was locked kunai to zanbato with Zabuza who was gaining ground quickly by pushing forward with his impressive strength.

"What will you do now Kakashi?" Zabuza laughed harshly after sensing the Namikaze's defeat.

Kakashi scowled, he had let his sensei down twice this mission. The first time was not protecting Akahana the second Naruto (Namikaze). He pushed forward against Zabuza and his zanbato, surprising the missing nin.

"You won't take another life while I have anything to say about it."

Just then a fireball flew toward Zabuza who just barely jumped out of the way as it sailed past, dissipating harmlessly in the distance.

It was at that moment that Sasuke made his appearance.

"Seems you aren't as big a coward as I thought," guess who.

Kakashi turned his head toward Sasuke, "Sasuke, help Naruto, he was fighting two nins on his own and I think he lost. Go!"

"Hai."

Dashing past the two jonins he ran toward Namikaze's position and fired off another fireball at his new adversaries, the mirrors long since gone.

When Naruto saw who he was fighting, he choked back another sob; it was Sasuke, oh Kami it was Sasuke. Why did it have to be him? Why couldn't he have stayed away? Haku knew that it was going to be hard for Naruto to do this so she took the initiative and charged forward to engage Sasuke in Taijutsu.

With senbon in hand, she clashed against Sasuke's kunai. With his hand occupied, Haku smirked and said, "I already have two advantages over you."

"Oh yeah and what's that?"

"The first is the water on the ground. And the second is that I have one of your hands occupied."

Sasuke scoffed at the second one, "Occupied? In case you didn't notice yours is too."

Haku's smirk grew, and instead of answering she went through a series of one-handed seals and said, "Secret Jutsu: Flying Water Needles!" and stomped on a nearby puddle. The splash turned into needles and lanced out toward Sasuke, who barely managed to avoid them. Activating his Sharingan, he turned to face the fake hunter-nin only to jump away again when he sensed the other ninja throw several shuriken at him. Coming down several feet away he reassessed the situation.

There were two ninja facing him, one who he has no prior knowledge of and appeared to have some skill, he could only assume that he had some part in Naruto Namikaze's defeat.

Doing another series of seals, Naruto leaped into the air and called out. "Water Style: Water Trumpet!" Holding his hand up to his mouth, he let loose a large jet of water that shot straight toward Sasuke.

Sasuke's eyes widened and he tried to jump out of the way but senbon needles in the leg prevented him from doing so. He watched helplessly as the water came hurtling towards him but right before it hit, he saw Naruto, or rather, Akahana high in the air blasting the water at him, a sad look on her face, and then he knew no more as the water took him.

It was at this time that Namikaze woke up, way ahead of Haku's prediction. Sitting up he groaned and started to pull the senbon out one at a time. When they were all out, he stood up and flexed. Looking over he saw Sasuke lying on the ground unconscious with Naruto and Haku standing over him.

Mumbling something about 'useless Uchiha', he went through some handseals and called out, "Wind Style: Devastation!"

Taking a deep breath he exhaled and released. The blast of wind caught the two ninjas off guard, blowing them back as well as dispelling Zabuza's mist.

Zabuza, barely registering the jutsu in time, threw up his sword to block the effects. Kakashi was not so lucky. But while he was being blown backwards he was able to do a substitution and was back where he was before.

Zabuza, now aware of Namikaze, shouted, "I thought you dealt with him already. Take him down and make sure he stays that way!"

Just then, a whirlwind shot forward preceded only moments before by a cry of "Wind Style: Whirlwind Fist!"

The funnel of wind barreled toward Haku and Naruto and only Haku was fast enough to do anything about it. Gathering chakra, she raised her hands into the air and called out, "Ice Style: Protective Ice Dome!"

Quickly ice formed around her and Naruto, creating an impressive defense against the whirlwind which, as Namikaze had seemed to have forgotten, or perhaps hoped they wouldn't be that fast, was ineffective. Growling, he decided that it was time to reveal his second chakra nature.

Going through the handseals, he called out, "Lightning Style: Earth Flash!"

Lightning began to appear in Namikaze's hands; raising them he released the wave, rippling outward toward his two opponents. The lightning hit the dome, and it danced inside of it, zapping the two inside. Haku was able to stay unharmed, but Naruto was not so fortunate, getting hit by bolt after bolt before finally dropping to the floor unconscious.

"Aka-Naruto!" Haku cried in alarm, breaking down the no-longer-protective dome and rushing over to her comrade. Checking her heartbeat she breathed a sigh of relief as it was still beating and she could faintly hear his breathing.

Standing up, Haku looked at Namikaze who was standing over Sasuke with a sad look on his face as he had come to the conclusion that he had died. Correctly reading the situation, Haku called out, "Is this the first time you have lost someone? You can expect to see many more of your friends die if you continue to seek to be a shinobi."

"Shut up."

"What?"

Namikaze took a deep breath, "I said shut up!" And with that he charged her.

Haku, aware of her already low supply of chakra, does her best to keep up with the younger ninja blocking whenever she can and attacking under the same principal. However the problem with this is that he's Akahana's brother and she would be distraught if he died, so she has to keep her attacks confined to areas that would incapacitate him.

Back with Kakashi and Zabuza, Kakashi had Zabuza held down by his ninken and was charging up his Chidori, staring down Zabuza with cold eyes. When the jutsu was ready, the lightning chakra started to emanate off of his hand visible for all to see.

It was at this point that the rest of the Iwa team decided to make their presence known.

Hiro launched into action by sending a flurry of Dust Kunai at Kakashi forcing him to end the jutsu prematurely.

"I see you got help Zabuza. Didn't think you had it in you."

Zabuza smirked, "I didn't. They are being paid the same as I am."

Kakashi paled. If they were on the same payroll, then that meant that Zabuza couldn't order them to leave. And that's when Zabuza's words hit him: they, as in multiple, as in, this just got a heck of a lot harder.

Kakashi had no choice but to keep his Sharingan active, otherwise he would die. He sighed; he would be in bed for weeks after this.

With Namikaze and Haku, Namikaze had just hit Haku in the face shattering her mask, revealing her face to him. Of course since he had never seen her before, he no reason to recognize her so he drew a kunai and was about to go in for the kill when all of a sudden a fist slammed into the side of his head which sent him flying to the side of the bridge where he barely caught himself in time by grabbing onto the railing and swinging himself back onto the bridge.

Then he saw his assailant and saw him to be someone around his age with a mask over his face and a katana on his back. The air was starting to slow down after he stopped moving.

Grabbing his katana from his back Jinsoku got into hinoha ittou stance. Namikaze, having some training with his kaa-san immediately recognized the stance as one commonly used by assassins. The blade was pointing straight at him. And then he charged at supersonic speeds. He was barely able to do a Kawarimi when the sword struck, piercing the log the moment it appeared and he disappeared. Cutting the log in two with his momentum, he whirled around to look for his opponent.

Deidara, seeing how well his students were doing, decided to let them deal with the Konoha shinobi on their own.

Roshi, who had been chosen to be the back-up to the back-up, was standing at the foot of the incomplete bridge.

Meanwhile with Naruto/Akahana, he/she was, still, unconscious, but this isn't where we'll be going. Actually we'll be going _inside_ said boy/girl's head.

^_^The Iwa Shinobi^_^

Inside Akahana's mind

Akahana woke up in a. . . mansion. (weren't expecting that one now were ya?)

Looking around she discovered she was in what would be described as a drawing room and that she was sitting in a very comfy chair. Standing up she stretched her limbs and looked around the room.

Suddenly she heard a deep voice coming from everywhere, **So, my container finally decided to grace me with her presence.**

Freaking out, she replied shakily, "W-who a-are y-you?"

A great laugh resounded, coming from everywhere and nowhere, scaring her further, **You will find out soon enough kitling. In the meantime, however, why don't you come over here?**

Shaking nervously, she asked, "W-where are y-you?"

More laughing, **Not there, obviously. Just follow the sound of my voice.**

"That's easy for you to say!" She yelled, momentarily forgetting her fear.

**Hmph, well, go to the main bedchamber on the second floor.**

Giving a faint, "Hai," Akahana exited the drawing room and looked around for the stairs. After wandering for several minutes (it's a big place) she found it. Going up said staircase she started looking in each door she found.

She opened the first one. Immediately she saw a group of guys gathered around a table playing poker. They looked up at her.

She waved shyly, "Sorry, wrong room," and quietly closed the door.

Opening the next door. . . she slammed it shut and pinned her body to it in an effort to keep it that way.

On the third try she hit the jackpot, although she wasn't exactly sure if it was supposed to look that way.

The room was huge, it had a giant wall of bars stretching the entire length of the room, which was about a mile wide. And in the middle of that wall of bars was a lock, which had a piece of paper covering it with writing on it, reminding her of a seal. But why would there be a seal here of all places? That would mean it's meant to hold something. But what?

**What indeed.**

"Eep!"

Akahana ran behind the door and trembled, reasonably freaked out.

**Hahahahaha, aren't a small one? Come closer, I don't bite, **the voice laughed, and then added mentally,_**much.**_

Tentatively taking a step out from behind the door, she slowly walked into the room, and walked toward the now-dubbed cage.

When she was within ten feet she stopped, fearing what might happen if she went closer.

It was then that the thing inside the cage made itself seen. Stepping forward into the light came a giant red fox with nine tails waving behind it.

Now, Akahana wasn't stupid, she knew all about the nine tailed beasts, or Bijuu; however, actually meeting one was never on her list of top ten things to do in life.

Fighting the urge to run successfully, she asked, timidly, "Are-are you the Kyuubi? The Infamous Nine-tailed Fox?"

A grin spread across the foxes giant face, showing a set of razor-sharp teeth, **Yes, I am. And you are my container, little kitling.**

"Kitling? Why do you call me that? And what do you mean by container? I thought the Yondaime killed you?"

**Please, the demon scoffed, As if a mortal could slay me. Your tou-san was no exception to that rule. Don't give me that look, of course I knew he was your tou-san. You look exactly like his wife, my former container for Kami's sake. **

Taking a deep breath, she screamed and fainted.

**Great, she fainted, now what am I going to do in the meantime?**

What seemed like hours later the red-haired beauty woke up, and was met with a scowling fox.

"Eep!" She hid her face behind her hands.

**Don't you dare faint on me girl!** shaking slightly, she nodded in response, **Glad to see we have an understanding. Now as I was saying, you are my container, or as your kind would call it, a Jinchuuriki. Now despite what some might say, this does not mean you are a monster, you are merely my prison. You are far too fragile for your own good. You aren't as weak as you think. **

Akahana resolutely shook her head, "You're wrong. I'm not strong. If I was strong, then why doesn't Akira look at me anymore? Or is it that I'm not pretty enough? I know I must be doing something wrong. There is now way I could be strong," she ended looking down at the floor, a tear rolling down her face.

Sighing, Kyuubi started to change form. Before the top of Akahana's head he transformed into a man with a flaming red mane of hair and a killer body. Any woman would swoon at the sight, once they got past the whole demon lord thing.

Striding forward he left the cage and picked Akahana up, hugging her close. He placed her head into his chest and let her cry. And cry she did. She sobbed her heart out into his chest, not knowing what to do, wondering when her adopted kaa-san stopped loving her, wondering why her life was so bad.

After a while the tears slowed and she was reduced to sniffling.

**Are you done yet?** she nodded against his chest, **Good, now we can get down to business. **

Setting her down on the bed located outside the cage, he walked back into his cage and grabbed something from the back of the room and walked back out.

As he approached the bed, she blushed when she caught sight of him. He was gorgeous with his flaming red hair and piercing red eyes and the figure of a god. But, a rebellious part of her mind said, _But not as good as Sasuke. _A blush rose on her cheeks.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, he placed what he had grabbed down and pushed it toward her shaking form.

Lifting her head up she looked at it questioningly, "W-what is th-that?"

He rolled his eyes, **It's a piece of paper.**

She glared at him indignantly, "I know that! What I meant was what does it say?"

Kyuubi chuckled, **Patience kitling. This paper outlines everything about you, from your chakra levels to what jutsus you know to your Kekkei Genkai. **

At the last one she looked up at him confused, "Kekkei. . . Genkai? But how could I have one? My parents don't have one, do they?"

**Your kaa-san does. Chakra chains. They are unique to the females of the Uzumaki clan. So if you had been born a boy you wouldn't have gotten it, you would have just been a carrier. Of course, you need a catalyst to activate it. For Jinchuuriki it is very easy, as I can do it for you. However I have to want to. I am going to need something in return. Your kaa-san and great-grandkaa-san before you both did this. **

"B-but wh-what could I g-give up? I don't have anything to offer you."

**Ah, but that's where you're wrong. You see you have something very valuable you can give me, **and now for the clincher.

Akahana looked up hopefully, "What? What is it?"

**Freedom. I know you can survive me being removed from your body as all Uzumaki's potentially can, as your kaa-san did. You just need to remove the seal. I realize this might seem like a bad idea, but hear me out. When I attacked Konoha I wasn't myself, per se. I was being controlled by an evil man by the name of Madara Uchiha, someone who has a Sharingan that surpasses all others, and can control me if he looks me in the eye. He ripped me from your kaa-san's body and forced me to fight. If you release me, I promise to return to the seal every so often so as to replenish my strength as you will be keeping most of my powers. Would you agree to this? **She nodded slowly,** I wouldn't leave immediately of course, as we ARE in the middle of a battle after all, and it would not be wise for me to leave in such a weakened state. So in the meantime I ask that you sit back, relax, and watch the show.**

^_^The Iwa Shinobi^_^

The Bridge

As the fighting continued, a burst of red chakra brought all of it to a pause. Roshi, knowing that the kid had finally contacted the Bijuu within, dashed over to where the other Jinchuuriki lay on the bridge.

Going through some seals he called out, "Bijuu Style: Chakra suppression Jutsu!" 1

Just when he was about to lay his hands on Naruto, said boy's hands stopped him.

Looking at the child's head, he gasped when he was met with two red, slitted eyes.

* * *

Omake:

When Akahana opened the second door, her eyes beheld something that no man (or woman) should ever see. For inside that door was the nightmare of all human beings. It was the end of civilization as everyone knew it. For inside that door. . . was a city full of Gai's and Lee's.

When they heard the door open, they all looked over and said, as one, "The youth is strong with this one!"

And with that they all started the process of the Youth Nightmare Genjutsu.

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

And as one hundreds of Gai's and Lee's charged at each other with arms opened wide prepared to hug. The ground shook like there was an earthquake.

Just when they were about to make contact, Akahana slammed the door shut.

Leaning heavily against the door, she thought,_ I wouldn't wish that upon my worst enemy! _

* * *

1: Only Jinchuuriki can use this style, as it requires a demon's chakra to use. And by extension it means that the Jinchuuriki can actually use the chakra without being consumed by it.

Naruto Sakamoto (Akahana's alias)

Hinoha ittou is a sword style from Rurouni Kenshin.

Thanks so much for waiting. Please tell me what you think.


	9. Ch 7: Stone Vs Leaf: The Demon Strikes

The Iwa Shinobi Chapter 7: Stone Vs. Leaf: The Demon Strikes

Jinsoku: swift

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, if I did, the abomination that is Gai's outfit would never have been created.

* * *

Previously on The Iwa Shinobi

The Bridge

As the fighting continued, a burst of red chakra brought all of it to a pause. Roshi, knowing that the kid had finally contacted the Bijuu within, dashed over to where the other Jinchuuriki lay on the bridge.

Going through some seals he called out, "Bijuu Style: Chakra suppression Jutsu!" 1

Just when he was about to lay his hands on Naruto, said boy's hands stopped him.

Looking at the child's head, he gasped when he was met with two red, slitted eyes.

Roshi looked on in fear as he gazed into the eyes of the most powerful of the Bijuu: the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

The nightmare wasn't about to end though, as the Lord of Demons pushed Roshi to the side and rose from the ground.

Roshi stumbled away grabbing onto the railing to secure himself.

The demon turned toward him, **Stay there, Yonbi, you will only get in the way.**

Facing the other Rock shinobi and Kakashi and Zabuza, he started walking toward them.

Kakashi couldn't believe his eyes, right before him was the Kyuubi, the Nine-Tailed Fox. But that was sealed into. . . His eyes widened, _Akahana!_

The bastards were forcing her to use the demon's power for their own benefit! They will pay for this injustice.

Naruto's form started to shimmer in the sunlight giving off an ethereal feeling to everyone who saw him.

Kakashi tried to pierce the illusion that he now knew was there, but he couldn't, as the Kyuubi's chakra was too strong and overwhelmed his Sharingan.

Then the demon charged . . . right past everyone into a large mob of thugs that had just appeared out of nowhere.

Gato, who had been expecting to be able to keep all the money that he was supposed to pay Zabuza and his partner suddenly found himself assaulted by a red, demonic creature that appeared out of nowhere and was cutting his men down left and right.

He yelled out, "I'll give a bonus to whoever kills that thing!"

The thugs, just about to give up, started to attack the thing with a renewed vigor.

Kyuubi growled.

He raised his hands and flashed through handsigns that Kakashi had never seen before, and then shouted, **Bijuu Style: Demon Shuriken!**

And then the chakra surrounding him flashed out, transforming into hundreds of little blades cutting the lowlifes down by the dozens until only Gato was left, and even he had been hit.

He was lying on the ground on his back with about four shuriken embedded in his arms and legs. Kyuubi stood over him.

Gato's eyes widened when he recognized the person from the meeting he had with the Iwa Shinobi, this was the smallest of the group.

"Please don't kill me! I was just coming to help you!" he cried pathetically and unbelievably.

Kyuubi narrowed his eyes and Gato whimpered, **You have a lot of nerve trying to back out on your side of the deal, Gato. Shinobi have standards, when one enters a contract, they don't go back on our end, and yet here you are, breaking a deal with shinobi, you have a lot of nerve. And because of this your life is forfeit. **

He raised his right hand, and the red chakra there formed into a claw. He brought it down quickly and beheaded Gato. Turning around he stared at the ninja and smirked.

**My container wishes you all to know that she desires you gone. Both sides must leave this place at once, including Haku and Zabuza, as there is nothing left for you here. We shall return to Iwa, you to Konoha, and Haku and Zabuza shall go where they please, **he sighed,** Now that that's done, can someone catch her?**

And with that the red chakra receded and the illusion hiding her true identity disappeared completely.

Jinsoku, having paused his battle with Naruto Namikaze to watch the demon attack Gato, charged forward at the Fox's last words. He reached Akahana just as she started her descent. She fell into his arms and he picked her up bridal style. Turning to Deidara, he motioned with his head to head out.

Normally Deidara would be outraged at having his own student question his authority, but right now he was a little disturbed at actually facing the Kyuubi and so just numbly nodded his head.

"Hiro, Roshi, we're leaving."

They both nodded and ran over to Deidara, who had just finished preparing his clay and then threw it in the air where it expanded and turned into a giant bird. Everyone gathered on its back and with a final look at the Leaf ninjas took off into the sky.

Kakashi slammed his fist onto the bridge, "Dammit!"

Sakura, who had been guarding Tazuna the entire time, cried as she realized that she had let them take the Hokage's daughter away again and had been powerless to stop them.

Namikaze, who had been frozen in fear, couldn't help but give a cry of rage as his sister was taken by the Iwa ninja yet again.

Sasuke, who had woken up from all the yelling, gave a strangled sob as the girl he liked was kidnapped by the Rock and try as he might he couldn't do anything about it.

Hardening his resolve, he swore then and there that he would save her from the fiends and bring her home.

Haku, seeing the reactions of Team 7 at the loss of Akahana couldn't help but let tears roll down her face. She knew then and thee that it would be better for her to be with Konoha then with Iwa. Turning to Zabuza-sama, she said, "Zabuza-sama, I think we should look at Gato's finances. After all, he didn't pay us yet."

Zabuza nodded once and they took off, leaving the Leaf shinobi all alone with the unconscious workers and Tazuna.

^_^The Iwa Shinobi^_^

Somewhere over Fire Country

Sitting on a giant clay bird, Deidara and Company were huddled around Akahana as she took shallow breaths. Deidara watched her with wary eyes as he tried to comprehend what he had just seen. The red eyes, the claws, the red chakra; it was definitely the Kyuubi. But why did it wait until now to make its move? Why not try earlier?

As his mind tried to understand it a thought suddenly popped into his head. What if it couldn't? What if the seal prevented it from doing anything unless the kid fell unconscious or let it? Those would make the most sense. But since she hadn't ever asked about it before, and he was sure she would have if she had known, then it was because of the former. He would have to ask her about it later when she was awake and fully rested.

And while on the subject of the girl, he shouldn't have let her go with that mist nin. So much trouble was caused from that one little outing.

^_^The Iwa Shinobi^_^

2 days Later

The Bridge

Team 7 was standing at the foot of the bridge with the villagers behind them. Tazuna stepped forward and shook Kakashi's hand and ruffled Sasuke's hair, much to his annoyance.

"Thank you so much for helping us. You don't know how much it means that we are free from Gato's oppression. Please, stop by whenever you're in the area."

Kakashi nodded his head, "Will do." He turned around, "Team 7, move out!"

The four ninjas dashed across the completed bridge back toward the mainland and Konoha.

Looking at their backs disappearing on the other side of the bridge, one of the villagers asked, "So what are we gonna call it?"'

Tazuna puffed out his chest and said, "The Great Tazuna Bridge."

Inari and Tsunami laughed. Inari looked at the others and said, "What about the Great Namikaze-Uchiha Bridge? In honor of Akahana and Sasuke who saved us and brought us together?"

"Yeah!"

Tazuna bowed his head in misery, "The Great Tazuna Bridge is good too."

Tsunami slapped her dad's arm gently, "Oh, grow up, dad."

^_^The Iwa Shinobi^_^

Four Days Later

Konoha

When Team 7 returned to Konoha, they made their way to the Hokage's office to give their report. And neither the Hokage nor his wife was ready for what they heard.

When they walked through the doors into the office they stood at attention while Kakashi said, "Team 7 reporting a successful mission."

Minato smiled at his old student, and turned that smile onto each of the young genin, although when he saw the heavy looks on their faces he frowned.

"What happened out there, Kakashi? Your team doesn't look so good."

Kakashi sighed. He opened his mouth to reply but Naruto beat him to the punch. "We found Akahana."

Minato leaned back in shock. Kushina, who had just walked in to give her husband a new stack of paperwork dropped them, her body shaking.

Minato leaped out of his seat and was across the room holding Kakashi up by the collar in the blink of an eye, "Is this true, Kakashi? Did you find my baby girl?" He said frantically, shaking the silver-haired jounin.

Kakashi bowed his head sadly, "Yes, Minato-sensei, it's true."

Kushina collapsed onto the floor behind them. Minato rushed over and caught her just before she hit and moved her over to the couch, sitting down beside her. They looked at team 7 with wide, tearful eyes, the questions they had showing clearly.

Sakura thought she should try and start, "She is really beautiful, she has long red hair and violet eyes just like you Kushina-sama."

A small smile appeared on her face as she heard that.

Sasuke took the reins next, "She is quite talented. When I first met her she was going to paint the village we were staying in."

Kushina's smile widened, her daughter took after her in more than just looks it seemed. She had painted when was younger (before Akahana was kidnapped) as well.

But they weren't finished yet, not by a long shot, "When we found her, we immediately recognized her, as she looks so much like kaa-san, and once we revealed our connection to her she broke down told us of her treatment in the village that kidnapped her," he took a deep breath, "Tou-san, it was Iwa."

Minato froze, his eyes widening in horror. Iwa? His daughter has been living in Iwa this whole time? That would certainly explain why they had become so friendly all of a sudden.

His eyes narrowed in rage. They had the nerve to kidnap his daughter and think they could get away with it? He was going to gather all his forces and storm Iwa and. . .

His train of thought was cut off as Kakashi said, "Whatever you're thinking of doing, sensei, you can't. I know you want to bring her back, but the way you're probably thinking of doing it will start a war. Right or no, we can't afford one. We are still recovering from the attack twelve years ago by the Kyuubi."

Minato turned his rage-filled gaze upon Kakashi, "So what are you suggesting? That I let them continue to abuse her?"

Kakashi raised his hands before him in a placating gesture, "Nothing of the sort. But we can't risk open war. You know this Hokage-sama. And besides, we have no proof that she is even there. Before she was taken away, she was under a henge, disguised to look like a boy. They could just keep her under it if we attempted to obtain her diplomatically. The best we can hope for is that she comes to the Chuunin Exams and dispel it there. I am sure they do not have her on file as a girl as that would ruin her disguise."

Minato's eyes brightened, as well as Kushina's.

Sasuke, while all this was going on, had suddenly had a flashback to the time in the clearing, and the accidental kiss. He still couldn't believe how soft her lips were. They tasted of strawberries and cinnamon; an odd combination, to be sure, but intoxicating all the same.

He was jerked out of his thoughts as everyone had stopped talking and were all looking at him with what looked like an expectant expression, as if they had just asked a question or something.

"Um," he started nervously, "What was the question again?" Kakashi face-palmed and the rest of the room sweat-dropped.

Minato cleared his throat, "As Kakashi said before, you were the one who met her before everyone else and as such you should be more familiar with her mannerisms. So, if it appears that they have changed her disguise, you will be able to spot her, Sharingan notwithstanding. After all, there are some illusions that only the most experienced eye can penetrate. And we can't call them on putting forth a false shinobi based on the eyes of our own because they would see it as us trying to cripple them. But what we need from you is to somehow get her alone and dispel the henge and get her to talk. From what I understand from your report, she is more strong-willed than in her natural form. Which, of course, should be the exact opposite, but we'll fix that when we rescue her. But in order for this to work you need to get her to confess this to an examiner or another ninja that we can trust and not her sensei or that toshi-teme."

Kushina nodded her head in agreement. They weren't going to respect someone who kidnapped babies from their parent's arms.

Sasuke bowed and said, "I will do my best, Hokage-sama."

^_^The Iwa Shinobi^_^

In Iwa

Deidara and company arrived at the village gates with an unconscious Akahana in hand. Although they had recast the henge to change her appearance back to her male self.

They dropped her off at her house, where Akira and Minoru were both home and they reluctantly took her inside, taking her to her room where they put her on her bed, after which they rushed out.

Team Deidara, plus Roshi, walked into the Tsuchikage tower and stood at attention before Onoki.

"Team Deidara reporting in from a failed mission, Tsuchikage-sama."

Onoki looked at them with narrowed eyes, "And just why was this mission failed, Deidara?"

Deidara started to open his mouth, when Jinsoku stepped forward, "When we arrived at Wave, Gato asked us to do something in return for his services, in which case it was to help the nuke-nin Zabuza Momochi kill a bridge builder by the name of Tazuna. However it seemed that the man had hired a team of Leaf nin to protect himself. The team being made up of Genin lead by one Kakashi Hatake."

That got Onoki's attention. The small man leaned forward in his booster seat and asked, "So what happened? I know that no ordinary Genin could beat you."

Jinsoku inclined his head in acknowledgement of the compliment, "We did not lose the fight, and I am sure that had we had more time we could have killed him, however before we could do so it appeared that Gato decided to double-cross us. While I do not have all the details it would seem he never intended to pay us and merely pick us off after the fight between teams, most likely assuming we would be too tired to fight back. Unfortunately, something happened that involved Naruto and Big Red and it ended with Gato's and his mercenary force's deaths. After his death we were forced to retreat and return."

Deidara looked at Jinsoku curiously, wondering why he didn't mention the discovery of 'Naruto's' true identity. But decided not to mention the omission, seeing as it wouldn't do any good, and besides, what was the likelihood that Konoha would actually be able to do anything about it anyway?

Onoki nodded his head in approval, "You have done well. I am assuming Naruto is at home resting from the ordeal," at Deidara's nod he motioned for Roshi to leave and as soon as the door closed he continued, "Also, I am entering your team in the upcoming Chuunin Exams that are taking place in Konoha."

Deidara's head whirled so fast they swore they heard a 'snap'. "Onoki-sensei, are you serious? But I thought that we hate Konoha. And their Yondaime Hokage is still in charge so why would. . ."

He was cut off by the Sandaime Tsuchikage waving his hand, "I realize that I (and the majority of the village) hate Konoha, however we must keep up appearances seeing as how we have a treaty with them. If we didn't show, everyone would think one of two things. One, that we don't have a very good crop of genins. Or two, that we still hate them. And while the latter might be true, we have been trying to put up the appearance that we don't. So we need your team to represent us. There will be no arguments Deidara. I know you don't really care about your charges, but please put up a good front for them, okay? Don't scowl; we don't want them to think we don't care about our own. You never did like that I forced you to become a Jounin-sensei, but you will put forth your best effort in this or you will suffer very dire consequences. Understand, my foolish apprentice? We need this. And you would only have to keep up the farce until the third exam."

Deidara looked at his leader with narrowed eyes, "And what does that mean?"

Onoki smirked, "There is a plan in place to invade Konoha involving our village, Suna, and Oto, a relatively new village lead by a Konoha nuke-nin, Orochimaru of the Sannin."

Everyone's eyes widened in shock. But Onoki wasn't done yet, "We will be given a signal during the final exam and then our combined forces will attack. With our power combined with their numbers, we will wipe them out for sure, and the Leaf village will be no more!"

Deidara smirked, "I will be sure to put Naruto on the front lines. Wonder what her family will say when they see her?"

He burst out laughing and Onoki joined in. Hiro gave a nervous chuckle and Jinsoku just stood there.

Outside the room, Roshi was listening to the conversation with rage. They were going to force a little girl to fight her own family! He was not going to stand by and let this atrocity pass. Walking away he started to work on a plan to save a child's innocence.

* * *

Please tell me what you think.

Now I realize that I have written Deidara as a scumbag now, but hear me out, I just couldn't write him as a good guy anymore.


	10. Chapter 8: Prelude to Disaster

A/N: I am so sorry for taking so long and this being so short, but I was having a hard time figuring out how to progress this up to the Exams. Next chapter the Exams begin!

The Iwa Shinobi Chapter 8: Prelude to Disaster

Disclaimer: Ah don't own Naruto! If ah did, then ah wouldn't be writin' fanfiction, see?

A/A/N: From now on Naruto (Akahana) will simply be called Akahana unless addressed by another character

* * *

Konoha

It was a bright day when Akahana walked through the gates of the Hidden Leaf Village, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and yet she still couldn't help the sinking feeling in her chest telling her that what she was about to do wasn't right. Luckily for her Roshi had been with her to calm her down otherwise she might not have made it. And Han had been surprisingly friendly as well, something that he had never been before.

She looked around in wonder at the village, It was quite different from Iwa, especially considering that the buildings weren't made out of stone. She had been forced to have the henge put on again if she wanted to leave and reluctantly agreed, seeing as she really wanted to get out of the village and not be stuck in isolation, which was her other option.

They walked a little bit further until Deidara pulled them to a halt and told them he was off to fill out the paperwork to have them registered for the Exams and that they could do whatever they wanted for the rest of the day.

Wandering around the village Akahana's eyes were everywhere. This was her home village, the place where her parents and sibling lived. She couldn't help but be in awe of the beauty all around her. While she was walking, the villagers watched her with narrowed eyes.

They all saw a boy with an Iwa Hitai-ite on his forehead and couldn't help but be suspicious. They had fought against each other in the Third Great Shinobi War and even though they had signed a treaty with them the villagers still didn't trust them, and had no reason to for that matter.

The Hokage had told them that his own daughter had been kidnapped by them and that the treaty was a farce. So while they wouldn't say anything about it to the shinobi, they would be on the lookout for their missing princess and free her from her captors. But first they had to figure out who was their lost girl and that wasn't going to be easy as she could be anyone if she was disguised, and they were told she was, as if she was her true self they would spot her in an instant.

\/\/\/

Akahana was walking through the village when she heard what sounded like yelling. Running toward it, she saw a few ninja and a kid being held up by his scarf by a guy wearing a cat suit and make-up. But she somehow missed the pink haired girl…

So, jumping down from where she was hiding, she ran to the end of the alley behind the cat-man and who she could only assume was his teammate, and shouted, "Hey, let the kid go!"

This of course sent the guy whirling around to face her and in the process lost his grip on the kid, who promptly scrambled behind the ninja on the other side of the alley. He started to open his mouth but when he caught sight of the stranger's hitai-ite he paled and stammered out an apology, only to stop and start shaking when a new voice cut in.

"Shut up Kankuro, you are a disgrace to our village."

Everyone turned toward the new voice and found him standing upside down on a tree branch who quickly shunshined to the ground by who must be his teammates as they all bore the symbol of Suna on their bands.

He had messy red hair and piercing jade eyes and the kanji for love tattooed on his forehead. With a giant gourd on his back he cut an imposing image. But what clinched it was the way his body screamed "I have killed before and I am not afraid to do it again". So really he cut an intimidating image.

Akahana looked at him with narrowed eyes. She had heard dark stories about the jinchuuriki of Suna, and didn't like them. She knew from Kyuubi that she could have been that, if she hadn't been taken from Konoha and her parents had died.

Back to the moment at hand, Akahana watched her fellow jinchuuriki (for that was what Kyuubi said she was) making sure he wasn't about to summon the sand that the Ichibi was known for.

"G-Gaara, they started it. I mean the brat ran into me and…" He stammered out, but was quickly cut off.

"Silence. You are acting like a fool, and you know what I do to fools." He punctuated this with a small stream of sand coming out of the gourd on his back, effectively silencing whatever argument Kankuro might have had.

He turned to me and said, "I am sorry for my brother. My name is Gaara, what is yours?"

Akahana swallowed the phlegm that had gathered and gave her false identity, "Naruto Sensui."

He inclined his head. Turning his neck ever so slightly, he said, "We're leaving." As he passed her, he whispered, "You smell nice. You should probably use unscented lotions."

She froze at his words, shocked that he caught her so easily.

Gaara smirked as he kept walking. He knew what she was, and while he didn't understand why she was there, he wasn't about to let the fools who destroyed his life do the same to her. He shook his head at the strange thoughts running through them. His mother was crying out for him to spill her blood but also warning him away. Most curious. She also kept screaming about the Kyuubi, but he shook it off. After all, wasn't it well known that the beast had been sealed into a child? And that said child vanished never to be seen again? But then again she did look an awful lot like the wife of the Hokage, so maybe there was more to his mother's cries than he gave credit.

/\/\/\

Akahana made her way back to the hotel her team was staying in and went inside. Upon entering, She found herself face-to-face with her sensei, who was not happy if the expression on his face was anything to go by.

"Where have you been?" he hissed angrily.

Akahana took a step back, her eyes wide. She had never seen him this angry before, except for that time back in Wave but we'll forget about that right now.

"I-I was just walking around. You said we had time," she stuttered nervously.

He continued to glare at her. "When I said that, I meant the boys could walk around. Not. You. You aren't to leave my sight except for the Exams and even then I won't be far away. Do you understand?"

She nodded her head quickly.

He smirked, and suddenly she was even more terrified then when he was glaring. But something he said had caught the desk manager's attention.

_He said boys, as if the kid wasn't one. And this is the only team from Iwa that we've seen so far, so that means that there is a strong possibility that that blond boy is really a red-headed girl. _It pays sometimes to be a retired shinobi. So, bringing out a register, he started to write down a coded message to the Hokage waited for the next "customer" to walk through the doors.

He didn't have to wait long as the regular Anbu to pick up the list of customers as usual to see if there is anything suspicious about them.

Deidara barely flicked his eyes in their direction as he dragged Akahana up to their rooms.

\/\/\/

When the report came to Minato Namikaze's desk that afternoon, he was shocked.

"Ku-Kushina!"

His wife barged in with a concerned look on her face, "What's wrong, Minato?"

"Look-look at this and you'll understand," he said indicating the paper in his hands.

Shrugging her shoulders, she walked over to his desk and took the paper from his outstretched hand and began to read. When she was done, she looked up at her husband with a hopeful gleam in her eyes.

"Minato, do you know what this means? We could finally have our baby back! I will finally be able to hold her in my arms." Her eyes teared up, and Minato got up and walked around his desk and wrapped his arms around her.

Resting his head on hers, he sighed, "I know that now that she is with our reach I would like nothing more than to Hiraishin over there and rescue her, but we can't without risk of war. She needs to be unveiled in front of the other villages as well, so that if Iwa does retaliate, we won't be alone in our struggle."

Kushina nodded tearfully and simply pressed her face into the crook of his neck.

He ran his fingers through her hair, "We will save her as soon as we can. I have faith that our shinobi will come through in the end and provide the opportunity."

Sighing in acquiescence, she just hugged him around his middle.

/\/\/\

Meanwhile back at hotel, Jinsoku was looking on with a blank expression on his face as Deidara tore his charge a new one. He sighed mentally. While he might understand why Deidara is upset, he never said that she couldn't go around the village, and didn't even bother to stop her when she went her merry way.

As the apprentice to the Tsuchikage, Deidara was the second most important person in Iwa, but that didn't mean he was the second strongest.

No, that title belonged to Quicksilver Sensui, the swiftest shinobi in Iwa.

* * *

Please tell me what you think! As long as it is friendly, of course. Flames not appreciated.

Quicksilver Sensui: Jinsoku Sensui's primary title


	11. Ch 9: The First Exam: The Oversight

Edited: thanks for telling me that narutofan020, I really appreciate it.

Hi everyone! A big thank you to everyone who did a review, favorite story, story alert, and favorite author and author alert. You guys are the reason I keep writing, as well as all the readers who haven't. And here we go!

Neji will not be a prat because his dad is still alive because when Cloud tried to get reparations for their dead ambassador Minato threatened them with war because they were trying to get something after an attempted kidnapping gone wrong. They shut up after that and so Hizashi survived the ordeal.

Quicksilver Sensui. One of Jinsoku's titles

* * *

The Iwa Shinobi Chapter 9: The Firs t Exam: The Oversight

The next day when all the teams congregated at the academy, Akahana moved quickly up the stairs to the second floor where she saw a large group crowding around a door that said 301.

Confused, and remembering what floor she was on, quickly deduced that it was a Genjutsu and simply went up the next flight of steps to the real third floor where they went inside and waited.

When she went to the stairs, she just missed Sasuke's team arrive and his big reveal of the Genjutsu, irritating Sakura for his trying to "show up" her Naruto-kun.

The night before, all the teams from Konoha had been warned that Suna, Oto, and Iwa had joined together in attempt to destroy the village. They had also been informed that one of the Iwa Shinobi was actually a girl in disguise and on top of that was really the Hokage's long-lost daughter who had been kidnapped the night of the Kyuubi attack.

With this knowledge in hand, the Konoha teams went forward into the Academy eyes looking everywhere for a team from Iwa.

Both Neji and Hinata kept their Byakugan active as they looked through the crowd, looking for any sign of a henge. When they finally spotted her, they couldn't believe how much she looked like Kushina-sama, even without color, their features were far too similar for her to be related to anyone else.

With her location in hand, they quickly gathered the other chuunin-hopefuls and told them. Sasuke immediately bobbed his head up trying to catch sight of her but was summarily smacked upside the head while getting a furious reprimand for almost blowing the entire operation.

They couldn't risk them finding out that they knew she was here, and who she was hiding out as, as that would put them on the defensive. They also couldn't risk removing the henge too early as if they did it now it could be seen as attempted sabotage and they might pull some crap about an advanced henge that they forced on her. So they would have to bide their time until they could get her alone.

But in the meantime, they would tell everyone else where she was. And it was at that moment that Team 7 walked in the room. And, having seen the henge in place before, were able to pick Akahana out immediately. So when Hinata informed them of where the missing heiress was, they cut her off and said, "We know."

And, while only briefly, Sasuke caught her eye, and gave her a look filled with something that made her turn away with pink cheeks, although only those with a doujutsu would be able to see it. And so, it was at that moment Kabuto Yakushi made himself known.

And, offering his services to them, was promptly asked to tell them about Gaara no Sabaku and Naruto Sakamoto.

They were then told that Gaara had completed 17 C-rank missions and 1 B-rank and that he had come out of all of them without a scratch.

But when he came to "Naruto's" card, He saw that it kept fluctuating, and settled on image of a red-headed girl that Sasuke knew well. Kabuto was puzzled by this. He hadn't heard anything about the Hokage's lost daughter being in Iwa, not that he didn't see the correlation between the girl's disappearance and the sudden absence of hostility toward Konoha from the Rock village. It made sense, but there was no way that Iwa could have pulled it off, they were too brash and tended to look after they leaped. Of course, with the kid being who she was, that meant she was a Jinchuuriki, and that also meant that she could be a valuable tool in in taking down Konoha.

He only hoped that the Hokage didn't find out about it (Kabuto and his team weren't present at the meeting held earlier to announce that Akahana had been found, as they had been reporting to Orochimaru at the time).

Sasuke cleared his throat, bringing Kabuto back to the real world.

Looking around, he smiled sheepishly, and said, "Akahana Namikaze, eldest child of the Yondaime Hokage, is a water element user with high marks in Ninjutsu, Average marks in Genjutsu, High in Fuinjutsu, and again average Taijutsu. She is probably one of the strongest Genin here, and she's on the young side. She has been on 18 C-rank missions, 6 B-ranks, and 3 A-ranks, the most recent with her clashing with Konoha Shinobi in the Land of Waves where she fought under the orders of Gato who died during the final confrontation, along with many of his mercenaries. She is also known to possess the Shadow Clone Jutsu, but where she learned it is unknown, seeing as she grew up in Iwa. Also, she is reputed to be the only person besides Mito Senju to have earned the infamous Fox summoning contract, which is known to only be given to those chosen by the Kyuubi himself. In addition…"

He was going to continue but at that moment three Shinobi wearing hitai-ites with a musical note on the metals plates charged and the one impersonating a mummy threw his right fist forward and only just missed Kabuto, who managed to dodge, but despite this his glasses still cracked.

Right then the sound of multiple shunshin was heard and smoke filled the room as well as a loud yell.

"Alright you maggots listen up!" the shoutee immediately became known as the smoke cleared, and everyone saw a tall man wearing a black trench coat with a bandanna covering his hear and a scar going down the middle of his face. "There will be no fighting while I am in charge am I understood? Good. My name is Ibiki Morino and I am the proctor for the First Exam. Now step forward to find out where you're sitting. The First Exam is under way."

Everyone moved toward the chuunin surrounding Ibiki and got their seat number and went to sit down. Sasuke got his number and was sure that the Hokage had it set up so that this would happen, regardless of the fact that the Hokage had no idea who his little girl was henged to look like.

Leaning over, he whispered into Akahana's ear, "Hey beautiful, I see you're looking as lovely as ever."

Whatever possessed him to say that he didn't know, but the reaction he got was more than worth the embarrassment he was feeling as the henged girl turned as red as a tomato. Lucky for her no one noticed except for the person whose name was really Naruto, who seethed at the sight of an Uchiha flirting with his sister. _I swear, if he comes anywhere near her after this I will personally castrate him._ (Kushina had made a point of teaching her children how to defend against perverts, in his younger sister's case, and how to protect his sister, in Naruto's. Needless to say he was capable of carrying out his threat, or would that be promise?)

So, after passing out all the tests, the contestants were told that every time they were caught cheating, they would lose 2 points, and if they were caught five times they were out. They were also told that the final question would be revealed after 45 minutes had passed. And so it began.

Gaara released some sand and created a third eye and looked at the other people's work; Sasuke activated his Sharingan and copied the hand movements of the person in front of him; Kiba sent out Akamaru to check out someone else's work and see the answers before running back and telling him with quiet barks; Neji and Hinata used their Byakugan to see another person's answers; Shino sent out one of his bugs; Temari used her wind jutsu to swap someone else's paper with her blank one; Kankuro took his fake chuunin exam assistant and went to the bathroom and got the answers that way; Sakura just wrote the answers down being so smart she didn't need to cheat, meanwhile Ino used her mind possession jutsu to take over Sakura's body to get the answers; Tenten used angled mirrors; Lee suddenly shouted something about youth (its YOUTH!) and was able to swap with the person next to him while he covered his ringing ears; Shikamaru just laid his head down, finding it all too troublesome to bother with; Choji used his expansion jutsu to upset the table slightly allowing him to swap papers; Naruto, well, he just wrote down the answers, finding it wasteful to reveal one's abilities (beyond simple intelligence) so early on; And Akahana, well, she simple wrote the answers down as well, well, at least half of them she did, the other half she quietly used a replication jutsu to copy the answers from Sasuke's paper next to her.

And with that the First Exam was coming to a close: all that remained was the tenth question.

Ibiki, having just disqualified another team, wasn't happy with the results, he needed to get at least 6 teams to give up on the last question or else Anko would say he was losing his touch.

"Alright you maggots, listen up!" he began, causing some of the greener genin to jump in their seats, namely the members of Team 8 and 10 as well as those who hailed from Kumo. "Before I reveal the last question I have to tell you the rules." Here he started smirking maliciously, "Every question you answered before this one is useless, and if you don't pass this question you will remain a genin forever!"

"Nani!" Kiba yelled, "That's bull, you can't do that!"

"Yeah," a genin from Kiri shouted, "I've seen people who have taken it multiple times!"

Ibiki's smirk deepened, "That was before I was in charge, and I am now. If you back out now you can try again at the next Exam, but everyone who stays will have to put it all on the line."

It was at this point that people who's willpower wasn't strong succumbed to Ibiki's leaked KI, raised their hands were removed from the room apologizing to their teammates.

The count had just gone to two (it was slow going) when Kiba slammed his fist on the desk and shouted, "Hey, bastard! You can keep me as a genin for the rest of my life, but know this, as soon as this test is over, I will just go the next one in a different village and you can bet they'll let me compete! So bring on the last question!"

And so, after his rousing speech, people stopped putting up their hands, a new resolve burning in their eyes, and thus Ibiki was going to have a large group when Anko showed up.

But, sighing mentally, he had to make himself seem terrifying one last time, just to see who would break before passing them.

So, releasing his KI at max, he saw shivers running up the majority of the genins' spines, and scowled menacingly, and yet, despite all this, the young ninja held firm. "You all…" for whatever reason, lightning seemed to strike behind him, (however physically impossible that was, considering the intact ceiling)"Pass!" and the oppressive KI vanished.

Everyone started yelling as Ibiki explained what the final question was and then Anko broke through the window and announced the beginning of the Second Exam. Everyone raced off after her leaving the proctor and his assistants behind.

Still in the academy, Ibiki was going over the papers when he came across Neji Hyuuga's, and he frowned as he read the message hidden within. It seemed he had something Hokage-sama needed to read for himself.

* * *

I am so sorry for taking so long with this. School was awful and I just couldn't get the chapter going.

But now that the hard exam is over, the real fun will begin. Stay tuned for next time: The Second Exam Begins: Revelations


	12. Ch 10: Second Exam Begins: Revelations

Kenkaku no Iwa: Swordsman of the Rock Another of Jinsoku's titles

Quicksilver Sensui. One of Jinsoku's titles

* * *

_The Second Exam Begins: Revelations_

As the group of examees made their way to the site of the next part of the Chuunin Exams, Ibiki was making his way to the Hokage with information regarding his missing daughter. When he arrived at Minato's office, he knocked once and waited for the sound of shuffling clothes to end before walking inside, immediately noticing Minato's and Kushina's ruffled appearances.

Keeping a neutral face, he bowed before his leader and said, "Hokage-sama, through the course of the First Exam I have discovered information pertinent to the rescuing of your daughter."

Before he could continue, he was set upon by two anxious faces that were way too close for comfort. Taking a step backward didn't seem to change anything as they moved with him. Giving a mental sigh, he continued, "It appears that she is currently under the guise of a young Shinobi that bears the name Naruto Sakamoto, and has blond hair and blue eyes."

Minato and Kushina blinked as they processed this. Giving Ibiki a suspicious glance, Minato asked, "Naruto? Really?" Ibiki nodded. Minato frowned, "Strange, I could have sworn that nobody read Sensei's book except me and Kushina. Unless it was chosen because the person was eating ramen and saw one in his food. But really, Naruto?"

He had every right to be skeptical; after all, the daughter he had been looking for all this time bore the given name of his own son. And so, seeing as this wasn't getting anywhere fast, Kushina decided to take the reins.

Pressing her face within inches of Ibiki's, which was only accomplished by standing on her toes, she asked, "So what is being done to save her?"

Both Minato and Ibiki sighed. "We can't dispel the henge just yet," Ibiki explained. "It would be seen as deliberate sabotage and she would immediately be removed and taken back to Iwa."

Kushina's face fell. But then she suddenly perked up, causing both Ibiki and Minato to look at her warily, especially when an evil smirk appeared. Ibiki stepped back, and when Minato tried to do the same, Kushina grabbed his hand and squeezed it hard in warning.

Looking up at her husband, she said, "Honey, I know how we can get her back without having to dispel the henge on our own. And all we need is her godmother."

Minato paled, and Ibiki was barely holding it in. "H-her g-godm-mother, Kushina? Are you sure that's wise? The last time we tried to get her involved she threw me over the forest and Mount Hokage before I could use my Hiraishin to get to safety."

This time Ibiki did visibly pale. Kushina, however, simply grinned smugly, "Well, dear, that would be because you tried to flash her here and she didn't like that. Now, my plan will be far more effective, and successful, in that all we have to do is tell her that her goddaughter has been found."

Minato gulped, "And by we you mean me, don't you?"

Kushina patted his shoulder, "Glad you understand, now get going, mister, you don't have a lot of time to find her."

And so the hunt began.

* * *

_Meanwhile in Tanzaku Gai_

Tsunade was playing at the slot machines when she suddenly got 3 7's. Her eyes widened comically, and then, turning around, she yelled, "Shizune! Grab the winnings and the pig! We're getting out of here!"

Unfortunately for her, as soon as she got out of the building, she ran smack-dab into Minato, who had decided to take a break while looking and had just Hiraishined in front of the building. Both of them, being unprepared for the sudden collision, fell backwards, with Tsunade on top.

Minato, after recovering from banging his head, looked up to see who ran into him and gasped, "Tsu-tsu-tsunade!"

It was after he said this that Tsunade recognized the blond mane and eyes and groaned. "Not again! I am not going on some hair-brained mission to find a dead girl!"

It was at this moment that the Yondaime grinned. "She's not dead, Tsunade." He pulled them both to their feet, which should have been impossible considering he was on the bottom but ninjas' like to be confusing that way. He held up his hand to silence her ready-made argument. "She's not dead, and I can prove it." She raised an eyebrow. "I know you must think I am crazy, but she's in Konoha right now, and, while she might not be portraying her true gender, she is there. All we need you to do is come back to Konoha and help us get her back."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes, "And why do you need help to get her when she is in _your_ village?"

Minato's smiling face turned grim, "That's the thing, Tsunade, we can't just take her. Iwa will declare that we are stealing their Shinobi and declare war. And we are still reeling from the Kyuubi attack. Yes, that's right, Iwa. They kidnapped her that night and took her away to train her as a weapon to be used against us. Right now they entered her in the Chuunin Exams under a henge of a blond boy and unless you help us, when this Exam is over, they will take her away and we will never see her again!" He got down onto his knees, "Please, Tsunade! I'm begging you! Don't let them take my baby girl away from me again! I don't think I could manage a second time."

The Legendary Sucker tried to resist, but inevitably fell under the sway of the terrifying Puppy Dog Eyes Jutsu. With his task accomplished, Minato prepared to return to his village but Tsunade stopped him to grab Shizune and the pig and then they all flashed together to Konoha, where the Second Exam was about to begin.

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_Back in Konoha_

Anko stood on a raised platform with her back to a dark enclosed forest that was making many disturbing sounds, to which she only smirked as she saw the reactions of the Genin before her to them.

Anko, in her tiny skirt, mesh shirt and brown trench coat and her purple hair in a ponytail made an intimidating image, especially with the creepy way her tongue kept flashing out at odd intervals.

"Alright you maggots, listen up," you could tell she had been taking lessons from Ibiki, "The forest behind me is known as the Training area 44, otherwise known as the Forest of Death, or my playground. You will be spending five days in this place, trying to get two of these." At this point she held up two scrolls, one with the Kanji for Heaven, the other with Earth. "You will be in your squads, and as a warning, do not open these in the forest."

"And why not?" a random Genin asked.

Her smirk grew, sending chills down the spines of most present. "It would be in your best interest to do as I say, brat. Moving right along, there is a tower in the center of the forest where you re to deliver the two scrolls. You will be often asked to deliver messages for clients for missions, and like those missions, you _don't_ open the letters to see what's inside. Well, enough for the warning. One member of your team will be given the scroll to carry. Oh, and two more things, you can only take in what you have on you right now." She was greeted with a roar of disapproval from the examees, the loudest being one Choji Akimichi, who complained about the lack of food on his person while eating a bag of potato chips. Still smirking, she continued, "There is also no limit on what you can do to get the scroll you need from other teams. That means killing is allowed, which is why you will all have to sign a waiver so that we won't be held accountable in the case of your 'unfortunate' demise." The way she said unfortunate send even more shivers down their spines. Surely this woman wasn't normal. "This is a no holds barred exam, go over to the tables to get your waivers and scroll and then once the paperwork is done, go to the gate number they give you."

After the teams signed the waivers and got their scrolls, they all lined up at their designated gates and waited for the signal.

* * *

_With a certain explosive-happy shinobi_

Deidara was leaning over a piece of paper with a very complicated seal written on it. It was a seal along the same lines as Danzo's loyalty seal, except that not only does it stop the bearer from talking about it, they have to do whatever the person who knows the seals commands them to do, like, say, destroy the entire Hidden Leaf Village.

And, of course, Deidara being who he was, was too concentrated on the paper before him to notice that someone was watching him. A small fly was hovering in the air behind him making far less noise than a real fly should. But it was only a matter of time before the blonde nin noticed it and took it out the only way he knows how: with a bang. But the result was that it the seal got peppered by debris thus ruining it and making the whole thing useless. But Deidara wasn't an expert on seals and so didn't notice.

Now the seal would only prevent the bearer from talking about things, and, while that can get annoying, wouldn't stop information from getting out completely.

And so, outside the room, Roshi was going over the memories he had just received from his clone and sighed. If the Tsuchikage continued down this path then he would be forced to make choices he would really prefer not to.

Now, the reason that Roshi could make a clone and henge it is that Jinchuuriki, by way of their tenants, have higher amounts of chakra then others, and so tend to overdo the simplest jutsus, and so the perfect henge came into being.

With the Second Exam just beginning, things would be really messy if that seal was applied, and Roshi would be damned if he let Onoki get his way this time without him doing something about it.

It seemed that he would have to get a message to Jinsoku somehow.

The kid, while young, was one of the most accomplished ninja in all five major villages and his skills were above and beyond what you would expect to see in someone his age, which he used to his advantage. Now, after all that, one would wonder, then why is he still a genin? The answer: he's not. He's actually a member of Tremor. Being a member of the visible yet invisible force of Iwa, Jinsoku was assigned to protect the oldest child of the Yondaime Hokage with his life if need be. Now, you don't give a Tremor that kind of order when the person they're watching is likely to jump ship thus requiring them to do the same. Which makes the order defunct that in turn makes the whole thing pointless, but then again, there are those fanatic few who would follow their orders even beyond their village's walls.

Now, the Kenkaku no Iwa was no slouch, and with his track record, he was easily the most accomplished of his peers, but, by virtue of his age, he was the only one actually able to pull acting as a genin off. Although being in several Bingo Books definitely wouldn't make this easy.

He only hoped the Uchiha clan didn't catch wind of him, especially when he bears the Mangekyo.

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Please tell me what you think! Sorry for taking so long, been working on all my stories at the same time so its slow going. Stay tuned for the next chapter: Chapter 11: The Second Exam: Between Rock and a Snake


	13. 11 Second Exam: Between Rock and a Snake

A/N: Sorry for taking so long, folks, I promise that the next one will be longer. But I figured you guys would rather have a short chapter now then a longer one a month from now, so here it is.

Thinker1234: Thank you for the kind words, I am glad you are enjoying the story.

Dragon: Happy you agree

To anyone who was confused by the last paragraphs of the last chapter: Don't worry, everything will make sense soon, I promise.

A big thank you to everyone who faved the story and another one to those who put it on story alert as well as those who favorite me as well. You guys are the reason I write.

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The Iwa Shinobi Chapter 11: The Second Exam: Between Rock and a Snake

As soon as the signal was given, the Genin raced into the Forest of Death, or rather, everyone except for Team 10.

"Get a move on, Shikamaru!" Ino cried as she ran circles around him and Choji, "If we don't move quickly, we'll never get a chance to beat a team and get the second scroll!" She said all this in a high-pitched voice.

Said-genin frowned and muttered, "Troublesome. Will you quiet down, Ino? You'll bring everyone to where we are and you aren't capable of fighting multiple people."

Ino glared at him, visibly affronted, "Are you calling me weak, Shikamaru-kun?" she asked in a sickly-sweet voice.

Shikamaru, who had dealt with terrifying women before, knew the correct response, not that he wouldn't have done otherwise anyway, "N-not at all!"

"Good boy," she said, patting his cheek and moving off into the trees, missing the muttered "troublesome woman" as she did so.

Meanwhile with Sasuke and Co.

The fight for who was in charge began well after the horn blew. Sasuke, having his Sharingan, was better equipped to find Akahana than either Naruto or Sakura as he could see through Genjutsu and can see farther than the other two; however, Naruto, feeling that it is his responsibility to find his sister, felt that he should be leading the way, while Sakura just shouted that "Naruto-kun should be in charge because he's Naruto-kun!" which made no sense whatsoever to anyone but her and the official Naruto fanclub.

Sasuke and Naruto proceeded to ignore her much to chagrin.

"She's my sister, if I don't find her, who will?"

"How about the person who can see through Genjutsus and has a long range of vision? I, unlike you, actually know her Chakra signature, and as such know what to look for."

Naruto scowled at his teammate. He hated it when he was outmaneuvered and even more so when it was an Uchiha who did it. Naruto, despite all his parent's attempts and lessons the subject, refused to believe the Uchiha clan innocent of the Kyuubi attack that ended with his sister being kidnapped, despite the Konoha Uchiha having nothing to do with it.

And so Sasuke led Team 7 into the Forest of Death with his Sharingan active, and all the while a certain Hebi Sennin was following behind them, his eyes set hungrily on Sasuke's. Now, while Orochimaru isn't a pedophile, he apparently has no problem giving off the illusion that he is. The reason he was following Sasuke was because he was the only Uchiha that wasn't skilled enough to fight him off with or without help, like a certain heir of the clan. Also he was the easiest to catch in that his teammates weren't skilled enough to stop him, especially with a fan girl on the team. He gave a silent shudder, he remembered the last time he had met a fan girl, it was when he was still in Konoha as a nin that they had all appeared out of nowhere and surrounded him when he walked out of the grocery store. He shunshined home immediately after purchasing ever since.

Breaking himself free of that disturbing trail of thought, Orochimaru nodded to his followers who then leapt off toward the borders to leave the forest, as they were no longer needed in this phase.

Going through the seals, he called out, "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" and with that he exhaled a great gust of wind that tore through the forest and separating his target from his teammates, or rather, teammate, as only Naruto was sent flying. Little did he know that he was only a clone, as Sasuke had seen the pedophile-impersonator coming a mile away.

Once he made his move, Team 7 made theirs.

Naruto, utilizing his skills with Fuinjutsu, grabbed a piece of paper and a brush and quickly drew a symbol on it, and the attached it to his kunai fashioned after his father's, only with a slight deviation: the kunai was designed to support any seals placed on it. It was his own invention and his tou-son was really proud of him.

The seal in question was designed to do something like a reverse-Hiraishin, in that it transported the person who had the seal to another one. The second seal was situated deep within Mount Hokage and was situated on a wall in a cell with no windows and no doors. The only way in or out was through Hiraishin.

Unfortunately for Naruto, Orochimaru had noticed a seal on the kunai and expertly avoided the small blade, not that he would have let it hit him anyway. There would be enough time for freebies later.

"That was a clever move, Naruto-kun, but you'll have to try harder than that if you want to beat me."

And the battle only got hotter from there. Orochimaru, wanting to test the Genin who had managed to expertly avoid his initial attack, limited himself to weak jutsus and Chuunin-level taijutsu. After a few moments of fighting, he quickly came to the conclusion that the pink-haired brat was nothing more than a fan-girl with a small amount of training that would place her more in the Seduction Corps than the regular forces. She clearly wasn't ready for the Exams and so made short work of her, although he did leave her conscious so that she could carry her teammates away once he was finished with them. Of course, he did underestimate them, again.

As soon as Sakura was out of the fight, the battle only got harder for the Snake Sannin as the male members of Team 7 could now fight without worrying about the girl.

Sasuke did a flurry of hand seals and cried out, "Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!"

The large ball of fire shot out toward the nuke-nin but before it got close Naruto went through a different set of seals and yelled, "Wind Style: Air Bullet!" He pounded his chest and the blast of air burst forth, and collided with the fireball, which served to make the thing five times larger.

The enhanced jutsu charged at the traitor and they could barely see a look of shock on his face as it collided. They did a high-five and started to go over to Sakura to see how she was doing when they heard a creepy "Kukuku, that was quite clever, Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun."

Naruto, keen on getting revenge, grabbed another kunai, this time one already bearing a seal, and threw it at Orochimaru who side-stepped and raised his hands, crying out, "Striking Shadow Snakes!" A horde of snakes emerged from his sleeves that charged at the Namikaze Heir.

The blonde in question could only stand in shock as they came closer, but it wasn't until there a burst of air in his face that they stopped and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

And, standing where the snakes once crawled, stood an average-height shinobi with a hand resting on the katana on his back, the only indication that he had used it the soft click as it was sheathed.

As the mysterious ninja turned around, Orochimaru gasped, for there, in the eyes of the man who just disrupted his attack, was a fully developed Mangekyou Sharingan.

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So what do you think? Please review and thanks for reading! ^_^


	14. Ch 12:Quicksilver Sensui vs Snake Sannin

And here it is: the climax (and conclusion) of the fight and the beginning of freedom's charge.

Ignoring the cheesiness of the statement, it does describe what will happen.

Sorry for taking so long, I have no excuse for not updating earlier.

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The Iwa Shinobi Chapter 12: The Second Exam: Quicksilver Sensui vs Snake Sannin

As the mysterious ninja turned around, Orochimaru gasped, for there, in the eyes of the man who just disrupted his attack, was a fully developed Mangekyou Sharingan.

"So Iwa had another secret that it kept up its sleeve, I see. But why did you interfere, boy? This is not your fight and Onoki will not be pleased to hear that you did."

Jinsoku Sensui, turning the rest of his body to face the nuke-nin, kept his face blank as he kept his hand on the hilt of his blade, "My mission is to ensure the well-being of my charge, and you are threatening that well-being, so I will make sure that my charge stays happy and whole." And with that he drew his blade and charged the Hebi Sannin, his blade a blur of light as it ripped through the older man's body with ease.

_Such power!_ Said a certain raven-haired genin.

_How can he move so fast? Dad can only do that when using Hiraishin! _the blond prodigy thought with wide eyes.

_I bet Naruto-kun is faster. _Take a wild guess who said that.

But it seemed that the attack was pointless as the body just cut began to fall apart, revealing it to be made of mud.

But the sword-wielding shinobi wasted no time in dashing across the open field and thrusting his katana at a point behind Sasuke, "Did you really think I'd let you take my cousin that easily?"

Sasuke was understandably shocked at that statement, _Cousin? But he's not from our village, and I know everyone that is around my age in the clan!_

Of course what he wasn't expecting was to look into the other nin's face and see his eyes, within which surrounding the pupils were three straight lines that went up, and to the southeast and southwest surrounded by a sea of red. Sasuke recognized the signs, it was like his older brother Itachi's eyes. Mangekyou!

But how? How did this guy, who came from Iwa, have Konoha's highly coveted Kekkei Genkai? The only thing he could think of was that one of his clan members got drunk and bedded an Iwa woman, but they hadn't sent anyone out Iwa's way around the time that this guy was born, so who could it possibly have been?

The battle was heating up as Orochimaru decided to finally strike back, as he opened his mouth and drew out his sword. The long blade clashed with Jinsoku's, much to the Sannin's surprise.

_Chakra blade!_

The Iwa nin chuckled, "I see you've noticed my blade's not as normal as you thought. Well, it doesn't matter in the end."

Orochimaru looked at him confused, "And what do you mean by that?"

And that was when he made his mistake, he locked eyes with the Swordsman of the Rock and Sensui whispered, "Tsukiyomi."

Of course, the snake had a back-up plan, and quickly replaced himself with a clone he had hid nearby, resulting in the clone's destruction and Orochimaru getting off scot-free.

Rising out of a nearby tree-branch, he quickly called back the blade known as Kusanagi and leapt downward swinging his sword at his opponent, who was quick to parry and return a swing of his own.

They exchanged blows, neither getting a hit in edgewise. Jinsoku blurred behind his opponent, leaving an after-image in his wake, and swung his blade down, slashing through the skin from shoulder to hip. Orochimaru screamed in agony at the strike.

In a move of desperation, he spun around and swung his blade in a wide arc, hoping to cut him or at the very least give him some breathing room. Achieving the latter, he returned his blade to its original resting place inside his body and quickly went through the seals he needed and slammed his hand on the ground crying out, "Summoning Jutsu!"

When the giant cloud of smoke disappeared, an even larger snake was left behind with Orochimaru on its head. He quickly ordered it to attack, but what happened next surprised even Sensui as he hadn't expected anything from that quarter.

It wasn't until Orochimaru summoned the snake that Sasuke finally worked up the nerve to run through a series of seals and thought,_ Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!_

The Ensuing ball of fire burst forth from the tiny ring around his mouth and sped toward the fighters. Jinsoku, having seen it with his Sharingan, jumped out of the way just in time for Orochimaru to scream in pain and his summon to disappear in the same manner it arrived as it didn't want to be deep fried, leaving its master to face the flames alone, having not expected the snake to run away like that, never once realizing that the clan of summons he controlled were seriously considering breaking the contract as he hadn't actually done anything to help them fight, tending to leave it to them which often resulted in them getting hurt. He had even refused to undergo sage training with them, and so, with this last act of making them do all the work, Orochimaru the Snake Sannin was no longer Snake and simply Sannin.

Emboldened his teammate's success, Naruto clapped his hands and cried out, "Wind Style: Gale Palm!"

Sakura, meanwhile, was cowering in the bushes too afraid to move.

Sasuke, on the other hand, quickly threw several shuriken and a couple kunai into the chakra-enhanced wind and watched as they were propelled at increased speeds toward the former Snake Sannin.

Orochimaru was confident he could avoid the incoming weapons, but that was before Jinsoku stabbed him in the gut. When his body was peppered with small blades, it turned to mud once more. The battle definitely wasn't going the way he had planned.

Orochimaru frowned at the proceedings. He hadn't counted on Iwa's Quicksilver Sensui showing up, least of all helping a Konoha team. He wouldn't be able to deal with him and the Genin at the same time, no matter how weak they were, because they would coordinate and strike him from all sides and it wouldn't be smart to try and attack them all at the same time because Sensui would protect them and he could potentially be defeated, so for now he would retreat and try his luck during the month reprieve.

But before he could leave, his opponent struck, and the snake lover was barely able to dodge the blade that cut the tree he was hiding behind in two. He wasn't a coward by any stretch of the imagination, but he also wasn't suicidal. He knew that if it came down to it, Sensui would win. His Kekkei Genkai giving him an advantage that he couldn't match, and so, after creating another mud clone he switched with it and shunshined away.

Honestly he couldn't have kept it up for much longer, with the cycle of making a clone and substituting with it only for it to get destroyed and him open to attack and repeat the procedure wasn't doing anything in his favor.

All in all, he had no other option but to run. Besides, he needed to be in tiptop shape for the invasion in a month. Plus the wounds he had received hurt like hell and he needed to get Kabuto to heal them. His shedding technique would exhaust him too much because of their severity.

The battle over, the Iwa nin sheathed his sword and turned around, his eyes deactivating as he did so. Team 7 tensed, readying jutsu and kunai in case he attacked, when he bowed his head, and began to walk away, leaving the preteens behind him gaping in shock. But before he could disappear completely, a soft voice called out, "Jinsoku-san? Are you there? Where are you?"

Sasuke stiffened. He would recognize it anywhere. After all, a henge only changes an appearance, not the person's voice. Granted it was obvious that it didn't sound completely feminine but that could easily be explained by the fact that Akahana was trying to make herself less noticeable, not that it worked.

The henged girl walked quietly into the clearing and stared in shock at the team before her, and tried to still her quickly beating heart as it increased in speed at the sight of the raven-haired genin before her.

Sasuke, exhausted from using jutsus, had deactivated his Sharingan and thus missed the blush.

The thusly named Jinsoku turned to face his unknowing charge with just the hint of a smile in his eyes before it vanished a second later.

"Naruto-san, we must be from this place, it is not safe, and I already have the scroll we need, so we shall be off to the tower."

And with that, after bowing shortly to Team 7, he turned around and disappeared in a blur of speed, with Akahana a few seconds after him, her hesitation only coming from Naruto and Sasuke calling after her.

Of course, what happened next no one saw coming.

A team of Sound genin burst through the trees and latched onto the girl, the one holding her bearing strange devices in his hands.

The one at the front was wielding a metal gauntlet on his right arm. His let eye was covered by a bandage and appeared to be the leader. In fact, he appeared to be a mummy if not for the eye and hair sticking out the top of the wrapping.

The second member of the team was wearing grey camo pants with a black top and her headband around her head, her black hair reaching down to her butt.

The last member had spiky, dark hair and dark eyes. He wore a beige shirt with two black stripes and three prints of the kanji for death down the front. His forehead protector had a face guard made of cloth similar to the Nidaime Hokage.

Jinsoku, too far away to do anything at the moment, stopped when he heard her scream, and stopped right in front of the tower, and quickly turned around, going as fast as he dared to go because his secondary bloodline caused muscles to break up if used too long.

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura, on the other hand, were in prime position to beat the crap out of them, unfortunately they were recovering from the fight with Orochimaru (or at least Naruto and Sasuke were) and thus not in any position to wage a prolonged fight with a fresh opponent, but they readied themselves nonetheless.

The female of the team laughed, "Ha! You think you can beat us? Just hand over Sasuke and we will let the rest of you go."

Akahana stiffened in her captor's arms at the statement, who noticed and chuckled darkly, "So, you care about him, do you? What is he? You boyfriend? Hahaha!"

"Give it a rest, Zaku, we're here for the Uchiha, not to laugh at a pathetic fanboy," the last member growled.

"Fine, have it your way, Dosu, I was just having some fun. Although, this guy is rather small for a guy."

"That doesn't matter, now onto more _important_ things." He turned his attention back to the weary Konoha Shinobi. "The Uchiha or your lives, starting with the brat. So what will it be? Wait, what are you doing?"

Unfortunately for Dosu and his team, however, Naruto had been running through a series of hand seals that he was going through while they were talking and when they noticed it was too late as he cried out, "Wind Style: Scattering Flower Dance!"

A cyclone of petals appeared before him and launched themselves at the Sound Team. Zaku quickly released his prisoner and threw up his arms, shouting, "Decapitating Airwaves!"

A wall of air threw itself at the petal attack which proceeded to shred the leaves into tiny pieces. He started laughing madly, noticing his former captive running through seals herself, but the girl did, and quickly threw a needle into a pressure point in her neck, incapacitating her.

Sasuke, seeing her treatment at the Sound nins' hands, growled, unconsciously activated his Sharingan and started to go through the seals for his signature technique before he stopped, remembering that Akahana would be hit as well. It was just as well since Sakura decided to make herself useful and threw a kunai with an explosive tag at Dosu. Only for Zaku to again stop the attack, redirecting the weapon into a nearby tree, which erupted in the ensuing explosion of energy and started to fall on the Sound nin, who leapt out of the way leaving their prisoner behind.

Naruto started to run for her but Sasuke beat him by a mile.

He appeared on the other side of the downed tree with her tucked safely in his arms. He looked down at her, relief evident on his face. It was short lived, however, as Dosu drove his fist into the tree and obliterated it.

Naruto, thinking quickly, yelled, "Sasuke, get her out of here!"

Now, while Zaku and Dosu didn't catch it, the girl did, and plans quickly began forming in her head.

Sasuke, not needing another prompt, took off into the trees as fast as he could with a person in his arms.

Dosu and the girl, who will now be called Kin, ran after them. Zaku, throwing up a wall of air at Naruto and Sakura, followed shortly after.

Naruto, after cancelling out the attack, raced after the bastards, with Sakura behind him.

The chase was on, and it would only be a matter of time before someone would catch them. The only thing that wasn't known, was who.

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So what do you think? Please review and thanks for reading! ^_^


	15. Chapter 13: The Second Exam: The Chase

A/N: I am soooooo sorry for not updating sooner, I should have finished this ages ago. I have no excuse for that. I hope you guys will forgive me. I hope to have the Preliminaries out far sooner than this one was. Unfortunately I have been having trouble with my computer lately and has made it harder to write so it could still take a bit but I don't plan to put it off like I have been this chapter. Enjoy!

The race to see who gets to Sasuke and Akahana is on! And now for the winners of this event:

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The Iwa Shinobi Chapter 13: The Second Exam: The Chase

The groups ran as fast as they could after Sasuke and his precious cargo, none getting any closer than the other as they burst through the foliage and past trees with the Uchiha in sight but never getting any closer than the others.

Kin ran at the front of her group as she tried to catch the runners. She knew that the person in Sasuke's arms was a girl, but was disguised as a boy for whatever reason, and obviously held great importance to the Konoha genin, and that meant that she was a tool just waiting for the right master to wield her. For the moment that she does, she will force Konoha to its knees.

Naruto was a blur as he raced through the forest, intent on catching up to his sister and Sasuke before the others did, not wanting to think about what the Oto genin would do if they caught them first.

Jinsoku ran silently as he approached the young Uchiha and his precious cargo. While he might technically be a genin, he was a member of Tremor, and therefore an elite ninja who also had his name in the bingo book. Catching up to the Konoha genin was a simple enough task, making sure that the girl wasn't harmed by Oto was another entirely, and he would do everything in his power to keep her safe.

Sakura, meanwhile was running well behind Naruto with one thought running through her head, _Why the heck are we chasing after a boy?_ She never was that observant.

At the head of the pack, Sasuke ran toward the tower in the center of the forest as fast as he could, which was an impressive speed, for a genin. He glanced down at the sleeping girl in his arms and smiled softly before looking up again. He couldn't wait to see her without the disguise.

Trees passed in a blur as he leapt from branch to branch, and it was only thanks to his active Sharingan that he was able to avoid the kunai that was sent speeding toward him.

He swerved to avoid the blade, losing his momentum and stopping to turn around and face his aggressor.

So it was with wide eyes that he found himself face-to-face with Jinsoku.

"You should be more careful how you carry her," was all he said before he repositioned Akahana in Sasuke's arms and vanished back into the foliage shortly after.

Creeped out by the brief encounter, he turned around and began to run again. But he only got a couple branches away before another kunai came flying out of the trees, and this time, it wasn't to give him friendly advice.

When he turned around, he found himself facing the Oto genin, each wearing a large smirk on their face as they looked on their newfound prey.

The Oto Kunoichi seemed to be the leader of the group at the moment as she moved in front of the two boys and said boldly, "Hand over the girl and you can leave with your life."

Sasuke, wondering how someone could think he would give her up after bringing her this far, rolled his eyes and turned back around intending to continue on his path to the tower, whirled about once again at the sound of metal flying through the air only to see something that he still had a hard time believing.

Jinsoku stood before him, his katana held before him in a defensive stance, a kunai could be seen sticking out of a nearby tree where he had just deflected it.

Sasuke looked at the Iwa Shinobi and asked, "Why did you protect us?"

The answer he got was slightly more believable, "Not you, her."

Of course if he was any less intelligent he would have had to take a bit to decipher the short reply, but being who he was, he got it quickly.

"Why Akahana?"

Sasuke could feel the man's hidden eye roll, "You do not matter to me, she does. Now let it lie, Sasuke Uchiha son of Fugaku Uchiha."

More confused now than before, Sasuke decided that it was better to give it a rest and make it to the tower before he was swarmed.

He raced through the trees at a breakneck pace holding the sleeping girl tight in his arms.

WHIZZ

The young Uchiha barely dodged the shuriken as it flew past, colliding with a thunk in the tree before him. Turning to face the new threat, he found himself ducking and spinning out of the way of another shuriken as Kabuto threw another at him.

"Give me the girl and you can leave with your life, Uchiha, I won't ask again," the silver-haired 'genin' declared, a kunai in his hand.

Sasuke only had a moment before he felt Akahana stirring in his arms. But, considering all his previous encounters with her (not including the bridge in Nami no Kuni) he didn't think that she would be aware enough to put up a solid defense upon waking.

Little did he know, she had actually been awake eve since Jinsoku had intercepted the previous attack, and her shifting was her way of letting him know she was awake, not that he knew that, apparently.

So when Kabuto threw a kunai at them, she was ready to leap out of his arms and throw her own to intercept it... or she would have if Sasuke didn't have such a tight grip on her.

"Sasuke," Akahana whispered, "Can you let me go, please? I would really appreciate it." Startled by her awakening, he loosened his grip just enough for her to slide out of his arms. "Thanks."

Standing on the branch, she brought up her kunai and deflected Kabuto's projectile,, shocking him as he too had assumed her to be asleep, but, far quicker than Sasuke, shook it off and drew another kunai.

"So, the sleeping princess is awake, is she? Good, now if you'll just come with me your boyfriend won't get hurt."

Akahana shook her head, "I don't know who you think you're kidding, but I'm not so stupid as to believe that you wouldn't hurt him anyway."

In a whirl of movement, Akahana threw her kunai at the bespectacled teen and went threw of flurry of handsigns, shouting, "Water Style: Water Trumpet!"

The ensuing blast of water shot forward at Kabuto, who narrowly avoided it. Turning to see the damage it caused, he was surprised to see the branch he was on previously was little more than a stump, the wooden appendage having been shorn off the tree.

Mentally he began calculating the power it would take to accomplish such a feat, and decided that if possible he should avoid it, lest he overwork his regenerative abilities.

"Impressive, to be sure. But not good enough to beat me. Come now, Tomato, just give it up. This is one fight you can't win."

Shaking her head, the lost Namikaze ran through another series of seals and cried out, "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"

Now, creating a water dragon miles away from a body of water is something that only the Nidaime Hokage Tobirama Senju (and Kisame to a lesser extent) could do, and that was an ability that no one has seen since his death. So naturally, Kabuto was a bit shocked at the sight of the Jutsu bearing down on him, almost missing the fact that the greenery around them was starting to shrivel up.

With a quick seal, he substituted himself and appeared behind a tree a quarter-mile away. He frowned, _It seems I will have to rethink my opinion of her. For all her timidity earlier, it seems she has very sharp claws_ (no pun intended) _and there was obviously more to her than meets the eye._

As Kabuto was thinking how to combat her, Sasuke was staring wide-eyed at the eldest Namikaze, trying to come to terms with the raw power he just witnessed.

Of course, he was shaken from his thoughts by said girl who grabbed his hand and proceeded to run towards the tower in the center of the Forest of Death, forcing him to gather his wits lest he bust his face on a tree.

Kabuto, meanwhile, was just about to give chase once more when he felt cold steel at his throat. His eyes followed the length of the blade to the holder, and was a very serious looking Jinsoku Sensui.

"You should give up if intend to chase them. The girl is under my protection and I am loathe to allow her to come to harm, especially to one such as you," the speedy Shinobi intoned.

Smirking, Kabuto said, "We both know who I serve, Sensui, and your identity isn't as secret as you might like. So why don't you just run back under that rock you've been living under and I will forget this ever happened."

His eyes never leaving Kabuto's, the Kinkaku no Iwa replied, "No, I don't think I will. For you and I both know I am the equal of your master, and no matter whether my secret is revealed or not, your place here has already been compromised, as you attacked the Uchiha and the young Lady Namikaze. They will stop you more surely than I."

Scowling at the truth in his words, Kabuto raised his hands into a single seal and shunshined out of the forest, intent on warning Orochimaru on the new turn of events.

^_^The Iwa Shinobi^_^

One day ago

_At the gates of Konoha_

Shizune lay gasping on the ground, not used to traveling by Hiraishin, and Tonton was right there on the ground beside her, whining about the upset to her stomach. The only reason Tsunade wasn't also on the ground was because she had experienced it once before when Minato had tried to run away from her right after he got Kushina pregnant with Akahana. Because she wasn't ready for it, she was puking her guts out on the floor, giving Minato enough time to flash away again.

"I hope you're right about this, Minato, otherwise you'll wish I caught you all those years ago." She let the threat hang in the air as she helped Shizune and the pig up and ushered them into the village, completely ignoring Izumo and Kotetsu.

Gulping, the Yondaime Hokage rushed after them, leading them to his office where he quickly pulled out his viewing orb and asked to be shown where Akahana was. Upon sight of her lost goddaughter, Tsunade cried tears of joy, and crushed Minato to her buxom chest, where he started to turn blue at lack of oxygen.

This is the sight that Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze walked in on that afternoon. The beating that followed made many an ANBU cringe and clutch their manhood in fright.

_Present_

His arm in a cast and his head bandaged, Minato limped into the central tower with his wife and the female Sannin behind him.

The scuff marks on Kushina's hands answered anyone's questions as to why their leader was injured.

Of course, it was only moments after walking past a second set of doors that the main doors opened again, this time admitting one Akahana and Sasuke who fell panting onto the floor unable to move further.

Fortunately for the two, their respective teams decided to come in as well, having been unable to find them and chose to wait at the tower. The two teams then opened their scrolls, and two Chuunin appeared out of them, told them they passed, and led them to some rooms where they could rest and told them where the cafeteria was.

The chase was over, but the struggle wasn't even at the climax.

* * *

So what do you think? Please review and thanks for reading! ^_^


	16. Ch 14: The Second Exam: The Change-up

A/N: There are lines taken directly from the anime in here, I don't think they should be too hard to spot. Beyond that, I hope you enjoy this latest addition to:

A/N2: Sorry for the delay in updating, my last computer died on me and my muse went on vacation for a few months so it took a bit to get into the habit of writing again. So barring a freak accident I think that I should be able to update more often.

* * *

The Iwa Shinobi Chapter 14: The Second Exam: The Change-up

After arriving at the tower, Akahana was taken to the infirmary by a stubborn Sasuke who refused to let her walk despite the fact that she had done so earlier without incident. Naruto was eying the Uchiha with suspicion as he went to the cafeteria, having been barred from going with them once it was seen he had no injuries.

Sakura, meanwhile was complaining about all the twigs in her hair and dirt on her clothes as she scrambled to the showers... only to run screaming out of them when she ran into the boy's on accident and saw a naked Choji.

It was the next day when Hinata Hyuuga's team arrived with both their scrolls, followed by Kabuto's and the Sound team although they seemed to be running on auto-pilot the the way they moved robotically, well, except for Dosu.

Mere hours after the Sound Team got there they were all called into an arena of sorts with platforms on either side.

On top of a statue of a handsign was the Fourth Hokage, who appeared to be trying to stay far away from his wife, although when he tried to slink away she would give him a look promising pain, he'd whimper, and he returned to his original position. Once she had her husband in line, Kushina's eyes scoured the ranks of Genin and locked on to the form of her henged daughter. It took all she had not to run down and pull her into her arms.

Anko, standing on the ground spoke into a headset that made her heard over the whispers, "Congratulations on completing the Second Exam. Alright, now pay attention, Hokage-sama is going to explain the Third Exam to you. You better listen carefully, maggots." She turned to face Minato, "Hokage-sama, they're all yours."

Minato leapt down, along with the sensei's for each team. and cleared his throat. For all that he tried to appear wise, the bandages and sling ruined the image, "I am going to tell you the true purpose of these exams. Why do you suppose we hold these exams in conjunction with our allies? To raise the ability levels of the Shinobi and increase friendships between allied nations, to be sure. But it's important that you understand its true meaning. The exams are, so-to-speak, they are a representation of the battles between allied nations. These exams also allow for a place where Shinobi can carry the pride of their nation on their backs and fight against other ninja for their very lives.

"Many leaders and peoples of prominence from various countries are invited to attend this exam as guests and also possibly to seek Shinobi to work for them. This exam will determine the course of your ninja work from here on out. And more importantly, those rulers will watch your battles and take note of the strengths that each ninja and each nation is developing. If there is a gap in power between the countries, the strong nations are inundated with job requests for their ninja and conversely, the requests to countries that are deemed weak decline. Therefore, the stronger our nation is, the better our position is when it comes to negotiating with neighboring countries. So it's important to show how much military strength our village has."

"Okay, but even so, why is it necessary for us to risk our lives?" Kiba asked, not understanding.

"The countries strength is the village's strength. The village's strength is the Shinobi's strength. And the true strength of the Shinobi is only achieved when it is pushed to its limits, such as in a life and death battle. This exam is a chance for each nation to display the strength of its Shinobi and hence, the strength of the nation itself. It is because this is an exam where your life is on the line that it has meaning. And it is for this very reason and for the strength of the nation that your forerunners fought in this exam. It's truly a dream worth striving for."

Temari looked skeptical, "But then why did you use the expression friendship before?"

Minato sighed, "But you've only remembered half of what I've said. You also mustn't have the wrong idea of the exam's meaning. This is a custom by which balance is preserved by fighting and dying in the world of the Shinobi that is friendship. The third exam is a fight for your life with the pride of your village and your own dreams at stake."

Before he could say anymore another ninja appeared kneeling before the Genin, fist to the ground. As he stood up, the ninja said, "Hokage-sama, let me take over from here."

Minato nodded, and returned to his place on the statue, albeit several feet further away from his wife.

The ninja looked at the Genin before him and coughed, at which point Akahana noted that he had several bags under his eyes. _He doesn't look too good._

"My name is Hayate Gekko and I am the proctor for the Third Exam. But before we can continue there is something we must do," he began before coughing again. The Genin looked at him curiously, "Because we didn't expect so many of you to actually pass the Second Exam, we have to conduct a Preliminary Exam to reduce your number even further."

Kiba shouted, "**WHAT**?!" Needless to say the sentiment was shared among his fellows.

Hayate raised his free hand to forestall any more outbursts, as his other was occupied with his mouth and covering up the cough. "The Preliminary Exam will begin immediately, so anyone who feels that they are not in top physical condition can bow out now. You will still be allowed to participate in future Exams if you do so."

A silver-haired Genin raised his hand, and when Hayate looked at him he recoiled at the sight. The teen's face was covered in bruises and his right eye was blackened and his glasses were cracked to such a degree that it was a wonder he even made it into the room without injuring himself further. The rest of his body was just as messy, if not more so, as his body sported cuts and other wounds across his badly torn clothing. All-in-all, he was a mess.

"Kabuto Yakushi of the Leaf? You're free to go, and make sure to get to a Medic-nin."

_Hypocrite_, was the thought running through many of the youngsters minds as he said that.

When no one else stepped forward, he motioned to the board where names began to run, "The first pair to fight will be selected at random and your names will appear on this screen. When chosen, the rest will go up the stairs on the sides while the two stay below."

As he finished speaking the selection finished.

**Sakura Haruno **

**vs.**

**Naruto Sakamoto**

"Alright, everyone but them clear out."

The two girls stood across from each other, but only one had thoughts of worry at what would happen if she injured the Hokage's daughter. Nevermind what the man himself would do, oh no. It was his wife that had her terrified. Not to say anything about how skilled the henged girl in question was, which was completely discounted.

"Hajime!"

'Naruto' didn't move a muscle at the go-ahead, merely waiting for Sakura to make the first move, and much to her disbelief, she raised her hand and shouted, "I forfeit!"

Sasuke sweatdropped, he knew she was scared of Kushina, but did she have to chicken out of the fight completely?

The boy whose name really was Naruto face-palmed, before shouting, "Sakura Haruno, if you forfeit I will not so much as look in your direction ever again!" He ignored the disapproving look his mother gave him but it got the desired result as she reluctantly withdrew her withdrawal.

Hayate looked at the pinkette and asked, "Are you ready?" At her tentative nod he sighed, coughed, and shouted, "Hajime!"

This time it was Akahana who took point and with her hands blurring she called out as she leapt into the air, "Water Style: Water Trumpet!" as she held her hand to her mouth and shot a blast of water at her opponent who barely had a chance to blink before she was launched into the opposing wall, cracking it and falling to the ground, eyes a pair of swirls as she slipped down the wall to the floor.

Shaking her head and shakily getting to her feet, she just barely looked up when she caught sight of her opponent, who stood right in front of her and whacked Sakura on the back of the neck, knocking her out instantly.

Kakashi sighed at the rather pathetic display that was his student as Gai pranced around beside him and shouted about his YOUTHFUL! students were clearly the better ones.

As the disguised redhead walked up the stairs to join her team and Sakura was taken to the Infirmary, no one noticed Minato holding his wife's hand whispering in her ear, and shaking his head when she looked at him mournfully.

The pair set of names appeared on the screen.

**Kankuro no Sabaku**

**vs.**

**Tenten Higarashi**

* * *

I always wondered how a fight between Kankuro and Tenten, both masters of weapons, would go down. Guess we'll both find out next chapter, eh? :)

Another Author Note: I apologize for the many author notes. I just realized that I made a mistake when I said that Naruto (Akahana's name) was Sensui instead of Sakamoto.


	17. Ch 15: The Second Exam: A Swift Defeat

A/N:And here it is! Man, I didn't think I would ever finish this! Took forever to figure out the fights.

A/N2: It was pointed out to me that I used Sakura in this chapter for a fight when I used her in the previous one. That was my bad, as I had wanted to get the fights done and started to recycle canon match-ups. I hope you all are okay with the adjustment.

Chapter 15: A Swift Defeat

* * *

**Kankuro no Sabaku**

**vs.**

**Tenten Higarashi**

* * *

Naruto (the real one) looked down at the two Genin as they squared off against each other. Kankuro had his puppet resting beside him and Tenten's hands were were hovering over her kunai and shuriken holsters.

"You two ready?" At the answering nods, Hayate shouted, "Hajime!" as he leapt off the arena floor.

And it was a good thing he did as not a second later blades were sent flying from both ends, most ended up deflected but some got through, although only 1 of the 7 that did was from Kankuro. The 6 flew and the Suna Genin hastily blocked them with his kunai. The 1 sped toward Tenten and, her eyes narrowing, she jumped to the side, avoiding the attack entirely. But it seemed not to matter as the senbon that Kankuro had thrown curved in midair, flying even faster if it could be believed at the Konoha Kunoichi.

Gasped could be heard from several Leaf Genin as they saw this.

"He's using chakra strings."

Their heads turned to look upon Kakashi Hatake who was looked aas bored as usual. "Ninjas of Suna are most known for their Puppetry techniques, whereby they manipulate chakra through their fingers that allow them to control constructs such as their puppets, which act as mobile weapons. The strings of course have other possible uses as you have just seen, but why don't we get back to the match, okay?"

Their heads turned back to see Tenten grab two scrolls placed them on the ground standing upright. After putting some chakra into them, they started to release smoke and began to fly spinning into the air. She leapt between them and grabbed them, and as the scrolls unraveled she began to summon a multitude of weapons that she threw at her opponent, spinning herself as she launched them at high speeds.

After a bit of this, she came back down, lightly stepping onto the ground. Hands arrayed before her as she waited for her opponent to attack.

From the smoke cloud a barrage of senbon flew at her, she leapt to the side, and looked back at the cloud that was starting to clear. And what she saw made her eyes widen. A puppet, of around the same height as the real Kankuro, stood where she had thought the Suna Genin had been moments before. It resembles a three-eyed, four-armed humanoid with jagged teeth and spiky brown hairstyle protruding from the top of its head and framing the sides.

Leaf Shinobi were surprised at its appearance, although thinking back to Kakashi's words from earlier, it made sense that a Suna Genin was able to use puppets. The puppet lurched forward as a marionette on a string, but then took off at a fast pace, Tenten twitched her fingers, and many in the room, from both sides took notice as many of the weapons that she had thrown launched themselves at the package that Kankuro (the puppet?) had left on the ground at the beginning of the match.

Before her attack could connect, Kankuro's puppet reached her and revealed a hidden blade that he raised. It was at this point that Hayate called out, "And this round *cough* is declared a draw *cough* as both are in a position that allows them to kill the *cough* other."

Sighing, Tenten called her weapons back to her and Kankuro did the same. It took a few minutes but eventually the floor was cleared.

Then the screen lit up again and began to cycle through names.

* * *

**Jinsoku Sensui**

**vs.**

**Rock Lee**

* * *

Lee leapt down after shouting that he show his opponent the Flames of Youth, and it was at that point that Deidara realized who Might Guy had chosen as his second for his Youth Nightmare Genjutsu, also known as the Sunset of Youth Genjutsu, or That Thing From Hell.

He shuddered.

Rock Lee looked over at his opponent with anticipation. He couldn't wait to show what he was capable of.

Sensui barely glanced at him, "Proctor, shall we get this over with?" he asked in a bored voice.

Guy's eyes narrowed, wondering what could make him so confident.

It was after Gekko shouted "Hajime!" that he understood why he wasn't worried.

Jinsoku simply drew his katana and intoned, "Swift Style: Shadowless Flight Slash"

Guy lowered his head and sighed. Tenten looked up at her sensei, "What's wrong, Guy-sensei? Shouldn't Lee be able to beat him? And what is Swift Style?"

"Swift Style is the antithesis of Taijutsu. For all that Lee is fast, that boy is faster. That element allows him to move at instantaneous speeds, making it impossible for Lee to track him, let alone hit him. No one who uses solely Taijutsu can hope to beat someone with this release."

And it was when she looked back down that she saw why.

After activating his jutsu, Sensui appeared to stand there for a few seconds before Lee attacked, but what shocked all of them was that what they thought was the Iwa-nin was in fact just an afterimage. Before anyone could say anything Lee felt cold steel at his neck.

The jutsu-less Genin looked up at his sensei in anguish, but was heartened when he saw his instructor was not upset and so in a sad voice he called out, "Proctor, I surrender."

With the match called, the blade was withdrawn and sheathed behind the wielder's back.

The match over, Jinsoku, returned to his team.

Guy looked at him shrewdly, before continuing where he left off, "It is the Kekkei Genkai of the Inazuma clan that came from Uzushio, the Village Hidden in the Whirlpools. Of course, how it ended up in Iwa is anyone's guess, seeing as Iwa was partly responsible for the village's destruction."

Tenten was shocked at that, seeing as she wasn't even aware that Uzushiogakure even existed.

Lee wandered dejectedly back over to his team. Guy placed his hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry about it, Lee. Even someone capable of using Ninjutsu would have trouble fighting that element."

Lee wiped his eyes, "Hai, Guy-sensei."

With that the next names appeared on the screen.

* * *

**Hiro Tagesi**

**vs.**

**Sasuke Uchiha**

* * *

The youngest grandchild of the Tsuchikage walked down the stairs and stood in the to one side without a word to his team.

Sasuke, on the other hand, was seething. This guy was part of the team that took Akahana from him. He would make him pay. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking behind him he saw his sensei. Kakashi looked at him seriously, "Sasuke, I know how you feel, but don't let your anger get the better of you. If we want to get her back you need to stay calm. Otherwise you'll be doing exactly what they want you to do."

Nodding, he leapt over the rail and landed in a crouch before straightening up. He glared at his opponent, who watched him coolly across the floor.

Hayate looked between the two, "Are you ready?" At their nods, he shouted, "Hajime!" and leapt out of the arena.

It took only a moment for Sasuke to blur through the seals before forming a ring around his mouth and shouting, "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

The resulting attack was one and a half meters high and 10 feet wide as it drove down toward its target who merely raised an eyebrow before collided.

Sasuke smirked, thinking he got him but then he had to throw himself to the side to avoid a spear as he looked around for Hiro. It was the gasps that drew his eyes upward where he was met with an incredible sight: the Genin could fly.

"Earth Style: Spears of Stone!"

The floor broke appart below the floating Genin and reformed into staves that then launched themselves at Sasuke.

In a surprising show of agility, Sasuke avoided each of the flying spears, and when he jumped into the air to avoid the last one he ran through seals and when he ended on Tiger he called out, "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

The resulting fireballs flew out of his mouth at his airborne opponent who had to perform a several aerial maneuvers to get out of the way, but it seemed to tire him as he was breathing harder after.

It was then that Sasuke got an idea. Simply putting his hands in the Tiger seal, he called out, "Fire Style Ninja Ar: Fire Run!"

His feet began to smoke as he started to run, leaving a trail of flames behind him. Orochimaru looked on impressed at the boy. Yes, he would do nicely.

The young Uchiha ran in circles around the area that Hiro was floating, making one ring after another, until 4 rings were side by side as he finally came to a stop outside their range. He smirked. The Tsuchikage's grandson was doing all he could to avoid the flames that were leaping up at him to no avail, as a spike of flame caught his clothes. Knowing he had lost, he called out, "Proctor, I surrender."

With that he gently floated back to the rest of his team where they put out the fire, leaving him with half his cloak charred as well as part of his shirt.

After the fires were put out, the next pair of names appeared.

* * *

**Naruto Namikaze**

**vs.**

**Kiba Inuzuka**

* * *

The day wasn't over yet as the two Leaf Shinobi made their way to the floor.

"You're going down, Namikaze!" the Dog-user said cockily.

Looking at him blankly, he waited until he heard "Hajime!" before he ran through some seals and called out, "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" And blew out just as Kiba charged, sending the guy flying backwards at the unexpected attack, hitting the far wall hard with the back of his head, knocking him out.

"Winner, Naruto Namikaze."

* * *

**Zaku Abumi**

**vs.**

**Shino Aburame**

* * *

(Same as canon)

* * *

**Shikamaru Nara**

**vs.**

**Kin Tsuchi**

* * *

(Same as canon)

* * *

**Temari no Sabaku**

**vs.**

**Misumi Tsurugi**

* * *

"Hajime!"

Leaf nin arrogantly started to run at his female opponent, but he didn't even get close before he was blown backwards by a swing from Temari's fan.

This continued for a bit til Temari used an actual jutsu and blew him all the way across the room in the back wall, where he made a nice Misumi-sized impression. The fight was called when they saw he was unconscious.

* * *

**Gaara no Sabaku**

**vs.**

**Choji Akimichi**

* * *

Before Choji could take one step Asuma Sarutobi looked right at him and said, "I want you to forfeit."

Knowing that his teacher only wanted the best for him, he did so, and left Gaara mad at not getting to kill someone legally.

**Ino Yamanaka**

**vs.**

**Yoroi Akado  
**

* * *

The two Leaf-nin stared each other down for a while as they heard the proctor start the match. It went on for a couple more minutes before Kiba, who had woken up and was back with his team shouted, "Get a move on!"

Finally getting in gear, rushed through a series of seals and called out, "Earth style: Stone Fist Jutsu!" and proceeded to charge at her opponent who drew a kunai with an explosive tag attached to the end. But he underestimated how fast the Kunoichi was as she drew back her fist to punch him in the gut, causing him to drop his kunai which exploded, sending the already flying veteran Genin zipping through the air before slamming into the wall behind him. His opponent, lighter by far, flew just as far and hit her head on the wall behind _her_. And thus ensued the double-knockout.

* * *

**Hinata Hyuuga**

**vs.**

**Neji Hyuuga**

* * *

(Same result, Neji wins but doesn't try to kill her since his dad is still alive)

* * *

Dosu Kinuta got a bye as there was no one else to fight.**  
**

And with that, the Prelims were over.

Hayate had the winners come down to the floor and pick numbers from a hat. "The number you drew will determine who you will fight in the Final Exam. Now I want you to tell me what your number is."

Dosu, "Nine."

Neji, "One."

Naruto (Akahana), "Six."

Naruto N., "Five."

Gaara, "Four."

Sasuke, "Three."

Jinsoku, "Two."

Temari, "Seven."

Shikamaru, "Eight."

Shino, "Ten."

"The order for the fights are as follows,

Neji Hyuuga vs. Jinsoku Sensui

Sasuke Uchiha vs. Gaara no Sabaku

Naruto Namikaze vs. Naruto Sakamoto

Temari no Sabaku vs. Shikamaru Nara

Dosu Kinuta vs. Shino Aburame.

You have a month to prepare for your fights, which will be held at the stadium at 10 o'clock sharp. Don't be late. I suggest you train hard. Dismissed!"

* * *

Jutsu:

Swift Style: Shadowless Flight Slash- This is the Kenjutsu version of Swift Release: Shadowless Flight, where the user of this technique moves at extremely fast speeds, rapidly slashing his opponent his opponent from various angles simultaneously. (not my creation)

Swift Style: Shadowless Flight- This technique is used to move at very fast speeds, rapidly striking his opponents at various angles while avoiding any opposition. This technique is very effective against strength based close-combat taijutsu users.

So what do you think? I hope I made the fights interesting (beyond the undescribed ones). Please tell me what you think! Up next is the month of training, what will they do? What will they learn? Find out next on, The Iwa Shinobi!

I put the two jutsu there so you have an idea what Jinsoku (OC) did.


	18. Important Message

Hey all,

It seems that the businesses are at it again, and so it falls to us to make sure that SOPA fails once more, as apparently they didn't get the message last time. It is easy to do, and shouldn't be too time-consuming, but we only have until March 19th to get the many-thousand signatures we need to keep sites such as Youtube this site in particular up and running. Simply follow the link below (without the spaces) and help save a favorite pastime. The government hasn't learned since last time, and If we want it to stick this time, we need your help.

petitions. whitehouse. gov/ petition/ stop- sopa- 2014/ q0Vkk0Zr


	19. Chapter 16: From One Oven to Another

A/N: For all those STILL hung up over my translation of Akahana, I am well aware that Hana means flower, and therefore Akahana means red flower. But does it REALLY MATTER? Whether it is rose or flower, it is essentially the same thing, and it would change absolutely nothing within the story. So please, let it rest.

A/N2: As it happens, I have had most of this chapter done for a few months, I just couldn't think of how to get to the end without dragging overmuch. I hope you enjoy this latest addition.

* * *

Chapter 16: From One Oven to Another

The month of training began in earnest. Naruto (the male) immediately asked his father for help. And it was thanks to the Kage Style: Demon Paperwork Killer (i.e. shadow clones) that he was able to make time to do it.

The not-really Naruto was being trained by Roshi, who had been kind enough to offer (read: threatened with molten spears of lava) to take her off Deidara's hands.

Neji was being trained (sort-of) by Gai but largely did it by himself, not wanting anyone to see him train, except for Tenten who was happy to help by throwing a large amount of sharp pointy objects at him at high speeds.

Sasuke was being trained by his big brother Itachi, who had been given the month off, for additional training in his Sharingan, much to his father's pleasure.

Shikamaru just lazed around as it would be too troublesome to actually exert any effort over the troublesome Exams, for all that Ino yelled at him to get his butt into gear. Asuma didn't do anything beyond playing shogi with him.

Shino worked with his father Shibi to learn more insect techniques as well as elemental jutsu training as they had found that Shino has the Earth affinity.

Temari worked with Baki on her wind jutsus, and did her best to stay away from her youngest brother.

Speaking of, no one even considered training Gaara as everyone was too afraid of him.

Kankuro practiced by himself as Baki wasn't really knowledgeable on puppets and Lady Chiyo wasn't around to assist him.

Dosu was by himself as well, but that was because Orochimaru had better things to do than train an expendable pawn that was most likely going to die anyway.

And Jinsoku, well, we're not really sure _what_ he did, as he just disappeared as soon as the match order was announced. But what is known is that Deidara wasn't happy about it, and this was compounded with the knowledge that Onoki's grandson didn't make it to the finals, having lost to an Uchiha of all people.

But let's move on, shall we?

* * *

_With Iwa Jinchuuriki_

Akahana was standing in all her glory (A/N: her henge was down. Ge your minds out of the gutter people!) before her temporary sensei, Roshi. The duo had chosen a secluded area just beyond the borders of the Land of Fire and into the Land of Earth. This was to ensure that the Hokage couldn't spy on them without breaking the treaty and so that in case the Tsuchikage decided to interfere they could just pop back over the line and be out of reach of his arthritis-stricken hands.

For all that Roshi was an Earth and Fire nature, thanks to the Yonbi, he still knew a few tricks to teach her that he had accumulated over the years. At the moment he was having her practice drawing on Kyuubi's chakra by way of summoning. At one point during the Third Great Shinobi War Roshi had acquired the Fox summoning contract, and, while he didn't have the Monkey contract, seeing as the Sarutobi clan had it, he still wasn't able to sign it, so he simply held on to it.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

*POOF*

A cloud of smoke appeared as her hand made contact with the ground. When it cleared a fox kit stood blinking in the clearing. It yawned cutely before curling up on the ground and started to snore quietly. It took all Akahana had not to squeal at the adorable sight. Roshi sighed as Son Goku of the Four Tails snickered in his mind.

After she regained control of herself, Akahana dismissed the kitling and tried again.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

*POOF*

This time a slightly bigger kit appeared, but was still clearly a baby. Four more tries and Akahana got over the cuteness as exhaustion and irritation set in.

With another sigh, Roshi walked over and placed a calming hand on her shoulder, "I think that is enough for now. The more you become frustrated the more likely you are to make a mistake. Besides, it's lunchtime anyway."

* * *

_With Uchiha Brothers_

Sasuke watched with narrowed eyes as his brother showed him how to perform Lightning Style: False Darkness. Because the jutsu required no seals, it was impossible to copy with the Sharingan, although it was possible to see the amount of chakra being released to perform it. Thankfully Itachi was patient enough to do it a couple more times until he got the amount down.

"Lightning Style: False Darkness!"

And, naturally, he got it on the first try. The electric attack burst from his mouth instantly vaporizing the ground before him. Itachi nodded approvingly.

"Very good. Now we just need to work on your aim."

Sasuke bit back a groan as he remembered why he was working so hard. He nodded determinedly before locking onto a tree a few meters away and began to gather lightning chakra for another burst.

"Lightning Style: False Darkness!"

* * *

_With Blond Wonders_

Naruto the male and his father, Minato, stood opposite each other on an open field, a tri-pronged kunai held in each hand, a seals array present on all four.

As they stared each other down, a leaf slowly spiraled down from a surrounding tree. Neither moved a muscle for what seemed an eternity when, after the leaf gently came to rest on the floor, they blurred into action.

*Clang*

Each threw a kunai at the other, but colliding and falling to the ground. A flash later they were clashing in the middle above their fallen knives.

The younger blond was quickly losing the contest of strength so he brought up his left hand and started to form a Rasengan. Minato apparently had the same idea as the two orbs of spinning chakra collided, creating a large cloud of smoke. When it cleared, it revealed the two blonds back where they were at the start of the fight.

Naruto and Minato blurred through handseals with Naruto finishing first, calling out, "Wind Style: Wind Dragon Jutsu!"

As the behemoth formed behind him and surged forward, Minato calmly finished his set and called out, "Fire Style: Dragon Flame Bomb!" and blew a torrent of flames from his mouth that shot forward like a ball from a cannon, quickly overtaking the wind dragon and blanketing the field in fire.

After blowing the smoke away, Minato saw that his son lay on the ground knocked unconscious from the blast. Shaking his head ruefully, he went about putting out the flames. Of course, he didn't get very far before his wife cleared her throat from the backdoor. He froze, a shiver going up his spine as he felt her eyes boring into him. Minato turned slowly to face Kushina.

"You will be fixing this mess." He nodded hurriedly.

"You will take our son to the hospital for Tsunade to look over him." Again he nodded quickly.

"You will be sleeping on the couch until after the Third Exam." He started to nod once more when what she said registered in his head. He tried to argue but a single glare silenced any complaint.

"If you don't want to sleep on a bed of sparking spikes, I suggest you get moving." Eyes widened in terror, the great Yondaime Hokage fled before his spouse.

* * *

_With Sound Smasher and Sand Smearer in the evening_

Dosu had been looking all over for the Kazekage's youngest child, wanting to take out who he viewed as the most dangerous competitor. Of course, Gaara wasn't exactly hiding so the fact it took him 2 hours to find the kid was laughable, and further proof for why he was given "expendable pawn" status. Now, we all know how this really goes down: Dosu meets Gaara, Dosu taunts Gaara, Gaara says Dosu will die, Dosu flails about feebly and finally is smushed. Now, I also know (as a result of me being the author) how this goes down in this story. Fortunately for you, I am feeling generous and decided to tell you.

After searching tirelessly for the panda-boy, Dosu declared, "If Orochimaru-sama thinks I'm expendable, I'll prove how useful I am by getting rid of you. After all, there's no way you coud beat a seasoned ninja as weak as you are."

Gaara simply looked at him and the Oto-nin flinched before steeling himself, "That won't work on me, panda-eyes! My melody-gauntlet will tear you apart from the inside out. Then my master will train me as I deserve!"

Gaara didn't even blink as he said tonelessly, "Mother doesn't like you. Mother wants you dead. And Mother gets what Mother wants."

Sufficiently creeped out, the not-so-confident-now Shinobi shakily raised his hand in a bizarre form of a wave before he promptly turned around and ran in the other direction, sand already chasing after him as he screamed at the top of his lungs, giving the nearby ANBU who had been listening in on the whole thing and excuse to move in.

"I think its time to go back to your room, young man." When the sand began to converge on the masked nin, the cat-masked ANBU quickly pulled out a piece of paper with kanji on it and stuck it on Gaara's head before his defense could react. The kid lost consciousness and fell into her arms. Shaking her head, she decided it would be best to take him to the Hokage. If nothing else he could check the seal on the kid. She motioned for Tiger to come with her lest the kid woke up prematurely and had Wolf trail the Sound Genin.

Upon arrival at the Namikaze household, she sweatdropped at the scene before her.

Running around the house was a terror-stricken Minato Namikaze who, upon sighting his security guard, immediately dove behind her and cowered, attempting to escape his wife's ire. Seeing as Cat stepped aside the moment Kushina appeared, he sighed in resignation and bowed his head in defeat.

The Uzumaki princess, ever one to pay attention to the little things, noticed that the female ANBU had something, or rather some_one_, in her arms. In the dim light she could make out a shock of red hair. She almost got her hopes up before the purple-haired woman shifted and revealed the sleeping face of Gaara no Sabaku. As her hope dwindled, her curiosity increased, as she wondered what could have prompted such an action.

After the woman explained the incident involving the Sound Genin and Gaara, Minato nodded and asked for the boy to be brought inside, whereupon he was placed on an empty bed in a guestroom and his shirt lifted up off his stomach. Channeling chakra into his hand, he watched as the boy's seal came into view... and promptly bugged out at how the Suna Seal'masters' messed it up so badly.

"What the hell is this!? My youngest would be able to do a better job then this and she hasn't even progressed beyond elemental chakra storage seals!"

Cat furrowed her brows at that statement. _What kind of monster is that kid?_

Sighing, Minato looked to Kushina who nodded and walked over and then flying through handseals she called out, "Eight Trigrams Seal!" and slammed her hand onto the seal.

The effect was immediate, as the seal evened out and changed to the sturdier spiral seal. After thoroughly checking it, the Namikaze adults nodded before motioning for Cat to take the boy back to his room. He likely wouldn't wake up any time soon.

* * *

Please tell me what you think, your opinions matter to me. Keep in mind, flames will be ignored.


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